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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25069732">Amour Et Mort</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Inu_Princess/pseuds/Fire_Inu_Princess'>Fire_Inu_Princess</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Milo Murphy's Law</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anger, Background Romance, Blood, Cavendish and Dakota may be OOC I'm sorry, Concerts, Demons, Discoveries, Dizzy spells, Dreams, Empath, Energy Draining, Family, Forbidden Love, Glowing Eyes, Hate to Love, Heartache, History Repeats, I'm trying to keep them in character, Incubus Dakota, Love, M/M, Memories, Mentions of Death, Music, Mutual Pining, Mystery Woman - Freeform, Near kiss, New Creatures, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Paranormal AU, Past Revealed, Pocket Watch, Protective Vinnie, Rain, Reincarnation, Romance, Scars of the Past, Secrets, Shadow - Freeform, Shock, Surprises, True Love, Truths Revealed in Parts, Vampires, Vinnie Dakota Needs a Hug, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Weakened, Worry, abilities, cavendish can't stand vinnie at first, crowds, dakota is a music god, different language, emotional music, energy, feathers - Freeform, friends - Freeform, hunter Cavendish, incubus, mental fogs, mission, objects from the past with meaning, paranormal hunter, past repeats, past trauma, possessive vinnie?, powers, selfish?, sensitive skin, sick, sick Cavendish, singer Dakota, some onesided love, songs of a lost love, tingling, unwanted flirting, vinnie knows how to fight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:22:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>205,152</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25069732</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Inu_Princess/pseuds/Fire_Inu_Princess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Edited Summary:<br/>Amour Et Mort (Love and Death)<br/>Balthazar Cavendish had wanted to be a top hunter. Wanted to make a name for himself all his life. Wanting to try to change the world for the better. After pleading for a better mission, he gets what he's always wanted though the mission itself? Not what he had hoped for. For, the young man was stuck with bodyguarding a famous singer. Not liking the idea of being a baby sitter, Balthazar is trying to complete his mission though he has noticed a few things. The way he's being stared at. The longing glances, painful stares, and the worse thing that's he's noticed since meeting Vinnie Dakota was strange dreams. Dreams that he wasn't sure if they were just dreams or more.</p><p>The longer he's on this mission, the more confused he's becoming about the whole task itself. As well as his own feelings toward the singer. What the heck is going on with him and what is this mission? He hopes to figure this mystery out.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Balthazar Cavendish &amp; Vinnie Dakota, Balthazar Cavendish/Vinnie Dakota</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>70</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. New Mission</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>The rain poured down upon him. Drenching and soaking through his clothes, making him think that maybe he should feel the chill from the rain but really? He felt nothing. Everything was just numb other than the ache within his heart.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Looking up at the sky, the young man couldn’t help but feel like the world was somehow against him in some way. For, he had done more in the last twenty four hours than he had done in his entire life. This, was nothing compared to the pain that he felt, the pain that had pushed him to do what he had done in the first place.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>He wanted to laugh.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Wanted to cry.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Wanted to punch at something in anger.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>So many emotions swirled within his chest in that moment that it almost felt like it was starting to bubble from within toward the surface. Making him feel like his adrenalin had finally wore down. Finally allowing him to feel the pain from within, he didn’t even know what was going on around him. Only that the rain washed everything away from him in that moment. Everything but his pain.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Biting his lower lip, the young man let out a hiccup. Which turned into small hitches of breath as he tried to keep himself from crying.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Memories starting to surface once again over what had happened. It was the very thing… that had pushed him to do what he had done. Even though he felt like he had done what was right, it wouldn’t have changed anything. The world had kept moving forward while he himself almost felt like he hadn’t been able to move on.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Falling onto his knees, his hands pressing to his legs hunched forward as he mumbled words that even he himself couldn’t understand. Lifting his one hand and slamming it into the ground. Only for him to start punching the ground till his fists would start to bleed, the rain merely just washing the blood away as his sniffles and hitching breaths, turned into sobs.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Tears streamed down his cheeks.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Why?” Was all he could choke out. Before he leaned back, facing the sky with wide tear filled eyes. The sky dark as it removed any and all light from the sky. “Why?!” He shouted before he started to cry more. Only for his cries, to turn into screams of anguish. His screams filled the sky till his voice went horse from overuse.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>It was a beautiful day. The sun shined through the apartment of a single young man who just wanted to ignore the brightness of the atrocious sun. Birds chirping made him want to groan and use the pillow to block out the bright light of the sun as well the sounds of the chirping birds. The man was someone that preferred silence as he slept though it seemed that he wouldn’t be able to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>A soft groan escaped the man as he tossed his blankets aside as he got out of bed. “Hate early mornings.” He mumbled, or at least he hated waking up earlier than he normally did. To him, waking up at five was far too early for him, compared to the seven AM wakeup call he would normally have.</p><p> </p><p>Making his way to the bathroom, the man looked at his reflection. Blinking his turquoise eyes sleepily as he let out a sigh. Running a hand through his short honey blonde hair, his bangs were a little messy for the most part but still in the same style as they were parted in the middle. His skin was paler than it usually was but nothing to make him worry.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his face, the young man mumbled something under his breath before he turned on the sink and started to splash water onto his skin. Hoping to wake him up so he could start the day. Though really, he wasn’t looking forward to work. Normally he was, but lately not really.</p><p> </p><p>Always getting the less exciting missions, always getting missions that required him to go and ‘collect’ the bodies of the agents that have failed in their mission, or the bodies of the paranormal.</p><p> </p><p>Ah yes, being a paranormal hunter was so fantastic wasn’t it?</p><p> </p><p>To be from a prestige family of hunters, his family having worked with this agency since it first was built and for him to be the ‘collector’ of agents and paranormal made him want to shout in anger.</p><p> </p><p>Yes, the Paranormal Investigation Group, better known as P.I.G, was a building that hunted/searched for the paranormal. Wanting to ensure the safety of the human population from the paranormal creatures that would come to the human realm that would either try to live among humans, or hurt them. But all paranormal creatures were evil and would try to harm the people of this realm.</p><p> </p><p>Though, the young man wouldn’t know that would he? Since he never went out to fight any paranormal creature of any kind. Narrowing his eyes at his reflection, he had wanted to be a paranormal hunter all his life. Having worked hard to get to where he was today, with his family being one of the best hunter families out in the world. But him…</p><p> </p><p>He felt like a failure for his family.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing softly, the young man held onto the sink as he stared at his reflection. Water dripping down his chin into the sink as he wondered what he was to do. He wanted a better mission, wanted a mission where he could make a difference in the world. Where he could be seen as a hero to someone, anyone really.</p><p> </p><p>But…</p><p> </p><p>No one ever gave him that chance.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, he looked downward as he closed his eyes. No one would ever give him that chance, even his own family thought that he wouldn’t be able to prove himself. Well, everyone but his little sister who had faith in him. There was that at least. Though it just… it just wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to make a real difference!</p><p> </p><p>Which he wouldn’t be able to do, if he didn’t demand a real mission.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s what I’ll do.” He said to himself, a smile growing on his face at the thought. “Yeah! I’ll demand a better mission, if I can convince them that I can handle it then they’ll <em>have</em> to give me a better mission!” He said with a bright and cheery smile on his face before staring at his reflection. “That’s it, no one will ever say that ‘Balthazar Cavendish’ is a failure of a hunter ever again!” He declared before getting himself cleaned up to start his day.</p><p> </p><p>Once he showered, brushed his hair, his teeth and so on, he made his way to his bedroom once again and threw on the best outfit that he had that he could wear. Black slacks, a white dress shirt with a green waistcoat. Giving his reflection a once over, Balthazar blinked his eyes a little before tugging at the sleeves of his shirt and rolled them up to just below his elbows. It would be warm most likely, may as well be comfortable.</p><p> </p><p>With that, he made his way over to his nightstand and grabbed his glasses. A pair of thick black framed glasses and slid them over his eyes. After that, Balthazar checked his phone and looked at the time and saw that he still had some time before he would have to go into work. But, then again he wanted to make sure that he could talk to the boss as quickly as he could.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head to himself, the young man grabbed his keys, his wallet and his boots before he started to make his way out of his apartment. He was going to get that mission if it was the last thing he did! Nothing would stop him! Not a single thing would stop him from getting a mission that would get his name on a plaque and be seen as a hero!</p><p> </p><p>Smiling at the idea, Balthazar knew that this was going to be the step that gets his name known and written in history of paranormal hunters of his family!</p><p> </p><p>“Oh wait.” He said startled as he rushed over to his nightstand and pulled the drawer. Having almost forgotten his most prized possession with him. A pocket watch that had survived the generations of his family. Smiling to himself, Balthazar clipped the end of the watch to a button before slipping the watch into his pocket and ran out of his apartment. He was going to be late to talk to his boss.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>“Sir, I’d like to have a proper mission of my skills.” Balthazar requested. Speaking to his boss who hadn’t bothered to turn his chair around to face him. That just made Balthazar think he was being rather rude, but at the moment he knew that he would have to just deal with it for the time being. Breathing deeply, the young man said “Please sir, I am from the Cavendish family line, to not get proper missions is shameful-“</p><p> </p><p>“As shameful as you being the lowest level of agents?” the boss retorted.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar flinched a little. Yes, he was a low level agent, third class if he recalled properly was the lowest of the low. But he knew for a fact that if he messed up more that his boss would find a way to make a new level to show that he was a true failure of a hunter. Though he wanted to rectify that. He wanted to be a better agent, wanting to show that he could be as much of a hunter as his family had been for generations!</p><p> </p><p>Which he can’t prove if no one gives him that chance!</p><p> </p><p>“Please sir, I want to show that I am just as good of a hunter as my family have been since the creation of the P.I.G.” Balthazar said with a frown, his arms folded behind his back trying to look professional. Even though internally he was panicking.</p><p> </p><p>“You think you can even handle an actual mission? After all the mishaps we’ve had since you started?” The boss stated with a sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“Sir, those were just mistakes I-“</p><p> </p><p>“You mean like mistaking someone for a vampire?”</p><p> </p><p>“In my defense sir, he does look like a vampire and even acts like one.” Balthazar pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>“Unless you see him drinking blood, he isn’t a vampire.” The boss said with a groan.</p><p> </p><p>He still thinks that teacher was a vampire, though just couldn’t prove it. That just made him all the more upset about such a thing. Taking a deep breath, the young man rubbed at his face, wanting to speak though the boss spoke up before him. “Then of course the time you thought you found a werewolf, and came the full moon no transformation. You almost hit someone with a silver dagger.”</p><p> </p><p>Another flinch.</p><p> </p><p>“A time you thought you found a siren due to people being drawn to him? He was a park musician.”</p><p> </p><p>“I get it sir. Those were mistakes, I was young and naïve but I’ve learned from my mistakes!” Balthazar nearly wanted to whine. It was hard enough to think back on those mistakes he had made. But to actually hear it from his boss, it made the sting all the more fresh for the young hunter. Though he just hoped and prayed that this wouldn’t have ruined any chance he would have for a real mission.</p><p> </p><p>The thought of not having a chance frightened him and made him think that his family would disown him because of something that he wouldn’t have had a shot at in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>“Allow me to prove myself to be a hunter that anyone could be proud of sir. I can’t get that chance if I’m stuck on collecting dead hunters or paranormal creatures.” Balthazar pleaded, the last thing he ever picked up was the ashy remains of a vampire that had been staked. The hunter had been too lazy to clean up so that had left the young hunter himself to clean up.</p><p> </p><p>In all of his twenty five years of life, that was the worse clean up he’s ever had to do.</p><p> </p><p>A soft sigh escaped the boss for a moment before letting out a groan. “Fine.” Balthazar perked up a little at that. Was he hearing right? Had the boss actually agreed to let him go on a mission? He almost wanted to cry out in joy. Finally, he could finally start to make a difference in the world! Grinning all the more, Balthazar was about to ask what kind of mission it was, but the boss spoke up before he could even get close to getting the words out.</p><p> </p><p>“There have been issues lately at the concerts for a well-known singer.” Balthazar blinked a little at that. Okay? “He’s been a known singer for a few years now, and during that time every few months or so, there have been people being found drained.” Balthazar went pale at the thought of more vampires running about. Or even people being found dead at concerts.</p><p> </p><p>But, at concerts? Loud, obnoxious music of all things was what caused a case to be formed?</p><p> </p><p>Sure, he himself was more into the classical music but his sister was one for bands and the like. It made him wonder how this was happening and no one has mentioned about this till now of all times. It was rather odd for sure.</p><p> </p><p>The boss let out a soft sigh as he leaned back in his chair. Though, Balthazar still didn’t see the man’s face. Did anyone even know what this guy looked like? “So, we are starting to think that the lead singer is the target. He is very popular among people, though some of his band mates are also popular with the fans but so far it seems that he’s a more fan favourite.”</p><p> </p><p>“So, what is it that you want me to do sir?” asked the young man.</p><p> </p><p>“You will be assigned as a bodyguard for him. You’ll need to keep him safe at all times, and of course make sure that there aren’t any more attacks on the man before anything else happens. We can’t afford another attack or people will start to think that there is something mystical happening.” Right, no one is to know about the paranormal. Most people in this group have merely been hired because they have experienced some kind of event with the paranormal.</p><p> </p><p>Either have been attacked, or witnessed an event. The victims, who survived or the witnesses, had one of two options. Sometimes three depending on what that choice was though it was mostly the two options. The third one was almost never used.</p><p> </p><p>They join the P.I.G.</p><p> </p><p>Or they have their memories wiped of the event that they had witnessed.</p><p> </p><p>The young man, he was mostly aware of the paranormal due to his family. They were pretty much one of the founders of the building itself as they hunted and looked for the paranormal creatures that they have dealt with for the last maybe five hundred years if that.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Balthazar didn’t really want to deal with a singer.</p><p> </p><p>Really didn’t.</p><p> </p><p>Singers normally tended to be fake. They would just seem like they cared about their fans, but were selfish people. Only caring about themselves, their looks, how many tickets are sold to their shows. Or even how well they perform rather than people actually enjoying themselves. It was something that he hated more than anything else in the world.</p><p> </p><p>Selfish people. Fakes. Or people who harm the innocent when they aren’t able to defend themselves.</p><p> </p><p>It made him sick to know that there were so many singers that didn’t actually care about people in the world. <em>’I hate fakers and selfish people.’</em></p><p> </p><p>“You will be assigned to bodyguard duty tomorrow. Be prepared and dress accordingly. You shall also receive equipment for your task. If you need more you’ll need to contact us and try to keep us up to date on any changes in anything.” The boss calmly said before leaning forward in his chair. Balthazar almost thought that he’d see the boss but nope, the man stayed in his chair.</p><p> </p><p>Though, Balthazar almost wanted to argue though with the kind of mission that it <em>could</em> have been? Honestly, it could have been worse right? Though he wouldn’t like it at all. He just wanted to shout a little more and maybe argue but knew that this was going to be a mission that could put him in the right direction.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, Balthazar calmly said “Alright sir, I shall start preparations now.”</p><p> </p><p>“What do you wish to have in matters of weapons?”</p><p> </p><p>“Gun and a dagger.”</p><p> </p><p>“Interesting choice.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar didn’t mind the use of a gun for the most part. His parents had taught him how to use a gun or well, any weapons for the most part. Though he preferred the gun as it would get the job done quicker though didn’t mean he didn’t feel bad about it sometimes. Letting out a deep breath, the young man was about to turn away before the boss spoke up. “Remember, you are to keep an eye out for anything that seems out of place.” Balthazar nodded his head as he agreed.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes sir.”</p><p> </p><p>“But, also know…” Why did he feel a chill going up his spine right now? He wanted to gulp a little but knew that he had to keep himself calm. Knowing that if he panicked, that there was a chance his boss would think that he really wasn’t ready for any kind of a mission like this. “Should you fail in this mission and the singer gets hurt in any way possible? You will be fired.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?!”</p><p> </p><p>“You are already a low level agent. No partner, and I am sticking my neck out for you just so you can live up to a family reputation.” The boss pointed out, which only made the young man all the angrier. Taking this mission could make or break his career as a hunter? What would he do if he failed? Gulping a little, the young man wanted to speak but the boss beat him once again. “Do not make me regret my decision in giving you this mission instead of someone who was skilled.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes sir.” Balthazar whispered before walking out of the room.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p><em>“So, you’re going to see a famous singer?”</em> asked a female voice from Balthazar’s phone.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I’m assigned to be some kind of bodyguard to him. It’s not really all that exciting.” Balthazar replied as he let out a soft sigh. Moving from his dresser to a suitcase as he packed up his things. According to the mission specs, Balthazar was going to be away from home for a while most likely. There was no way of knowing how long he was going to be gone for. So, he was calling his sister for a favor.</p><p> </p><p><em>“Think you can get me an autograph?”</em> asked the woman.</p><p> </p><p>“I do not even know who it is.” Came Balthazar’s reply before rolling his eyes. “It’d be hard to know if you even listen to him or not Zoey.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Aw, I’ll take any autograph that you can get me!”</em> cried out the female voice, causing Balthazar to chuckle. His sister was always so lively. It was the one thing that he found endearing when it came to his younger sister. Though, she was also a worrier when it came to himself. His health, his mission and the like.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey herself wasn’t a hunter. Not finding it to be interesting and wanted to play piano or paint rather than hunt and kill. Personally, he doesn’t blame her for that. Hunting wasn’t for everyone and he was happy that she found her own passion in her life instead of following in their parents footsteps. <em>”So, how long do you think you’ll be gone for Balthy?”</em></p><p> </p><p>“Personally I’m not sure. It could be a few weeks to months at a time. I could be gone for a year if not more. It depends on if I can capture the attacker before anything else could happen to anyone else.” Balthazar said with a soft sigh before rubbing at the back of his neck. Normally he wasn’t gone from his home for longer than a week. So, with the possibility of him being gone for longer than a year if not more well, he knew that he needed someone to stay in his home so he could ensure that it was well taken care of, and his sister was the best person to ask. “So, think you can stay at my home? Just to check on mail and keep the place livable so no one thinks I just abandoned the place.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Of course Balthy! I’ll do that, no worries!”</em> came his sister’s reply with a giggle.</p><p> </p><p>As he was closing up the suitcase, he heard his sister’s voice hitting him once again. <em>”You still have that pocket watch right?”</em></p><p> </p><p>“Always.” It was a birthday gift he got from their grandmother years ago. Maybe on his twentieth birthday if he recalled properly. It was some kind of family heirloom or something. Having been passed down from members of the family but only ever given to the men mostly. It was rare for a woman to receive the watch itself.</p><p> </p><p>Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the water. Looking at it, as the watch shined like it was brand new. The watch had been well cared for during the generations of it being passed down too. Though to be honest, he never understood why his sister was always so concerned when it came to the watch. There have been tales attached to the watch but he just figured that’s all it was.</p><p> </p><p>Stories.</p><p> </p><p>Setting it back in his pocket, the young man calmly said “I don’t know why you worry so much. It’s just a watch, a beautiful watch but a watch.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”I know but the stories-“</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Are just that Zoey. Stories and nothing more, stories that aren’t even fact should I mind you. Do not worry yourself sick over something that is far from the truth.” Balthazar calmly said, hoping that would be enough to ease his sister’s worries. Even though she was a couple years younger than him, she sometimes tried to act like the older sibling.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, he thought it was cute but he was still the one that should be the protective one when it comes to his sister’s safety. It was his job as the older brother.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Fine, I’ll let it go for now-“</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“No, you will let it go. Period. To allow yourself to believe in such tales of superstition is silly in itself and childish. We’re both adults here Zoey, and to keep worrying about such trifle things will only worry yourself till you get sick again. Remember when I got the watch? You worried yourself till you threw up all over your new shoes. Mother was not happy about that.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”I… um…”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“I thought so. Now, that’s the end of this conversation.” His sister was silent, making him want to sigh. Yes, Balthazar knew that he could be harsh but he was only trying to look out for his sister. The tales that surrounded his pocket watch always worried her till she would make herself ill and so far, he knew that they were nothing more than just stories.</p><p> </p><p>After all, nothing had happened thus far and that was proof enough for him.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry Zoey, I know you are only trying to look out for me but you don’t have to worry. I’m a hunter.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Third class Balthy, third class.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Rub it in why don’t you.” Balthazar said with a sigh before rubbing at the bridge of his nose. Taking a deep breath, he calmly said “Fine, to make it up to you, I’ll get you that darn autograph that you want so badly. I’ll ask if he can but I can’t make promises that he’ll go with it. Singers are all the same after all. Selfish people who do not care about their fans but for the pay.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”I don’t think that’s always the case though.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“It is, that’s how it’s always been. Now, I have to head out. You have my spare key correct?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Yup!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Good, I’ll call you later to check up on you and make sure that you always clean up after yourself when you paint please? Or even just paint on the balcony if it’s nice enough outside. I don’t want paint in my home.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”I know, I know. I’ll lay a tarp down on the floor just to be extra careful.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Good, love you Zoey.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Love you too Balthy!”</em> With that, Balthazar ended the call and stared at his phone. He let out a soft sigh before taking one last look around his home. It’ll be a long time before he came back most likely but at the same time he knew that this was what should happen. If he was going to make a name for himself, then he had to take this chance. With that, he grabbed his suitcases, his equipment and his jacket before walking out of his apartment, and locking up behind him.</p><p> </p><p>The mission starts now.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Do I Know You?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar is starting his mission, though he isn't sure what to think about the singer when he finally meets him other than familiarity.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar sighed softly as he arrived at the Performing Arts Center. It was a rather large building. Reminded the young man of a dome rather than anything else though he had heard about all the kinds of concerts that would be held here. The singer he was supposed to bodyguard was here and the concerts themselves hadn’t started yet.</p><p> </p><p>It seems that the so called ‘famous singer’ had just arrived yesterday. The day the young man had gotten this mission. Most likely it had been something that the boss had been gathering information on for a while now. But with the singer… he was starting to wish he got a name or something. He was so tired of referring the guy as ‘the singer’ or something.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, the young man started to walk on inside. He pulled out his mission specs and saw that he had to look for the manager that arranges the concerts for this guy. It would be a long day. Though it also seemed like that the day itself would be used trying to get to know the one he would be guarding, plus the band.</p><p> </p><p>Tomorrow would be the show, and his first job as a bodyguard.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing softly, the young man made his way into the building, trying to find the manager. As he looked around, he saw a few people speaking among themselves. All of them were happy and cheerily talking about the ‘handsome’ singer that had arrived yesterday. Of course they would be talking about the singer. All self-proclaimed famous people only cared about their looks and their charms.</p><p> </p><p>It made him sick.</p><p> </p><p>There was more to life than what someone’s appearance is. Rolling his eyes, Balthazar kept on walking forward as he tried to find any kind of indication as to where the manager was. Frowning, he didn’t know where he was going actually. Turning his turquoise eyes to his surrounding area, he saw that the room he was in right now was more like some kind of waiting room.</p><p> </p><p>Odd.</p><p> </p><p>Though he also saw red carpets. Black chairs lined the back walls of the room, a little side table here and there for some of the chairs. A few people of course was sitting along the walls or even those just leaning themselves as they talk. The young man frowned a little more as he tried to think on who he was supposed to talk too. It just seemed that no one was around that would give him any kind of indication as to where he was supposed to go to.</p><p> </p><p>“Excuse me?” came a voice, causing Balthazar to turn his gaze around and he saw a man in… was he wearing a tuxedo? “Are you the bodyguard that was hired to protect Vincent?”</p><p> </p><p>Vincent? Is that the singer’s name?</p><p> </p><p>“Perhaps? I’m not sure. I wasn’t really given much information.” Balthazar said with a small shrug as he added “I was only told I was to bodyguard while um… the singer was on tour?” honestly, he had no idea if he even had the same person in the first place! Breathing deeply, the young man rubbed at the back of his neck as he said “My boss sometimes likes to withhold information to be funny.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, well they didn’t give much information other than what you look like.” That… made it a little easier he figured?</p><p> </p><p>Taking another look at the man, he saw that the man was muscular yes. Short black hair that was gelled back and dark eyes. He had some kind of clipboard in his hands as he was writing something down. “Alright, well I’ll need you to follow me. The quicker we get you settled, the better for everyone in the long run.”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course.” Balthazar calmly replied as he followed the man out of the room. Carrying his luggage with him in the process. He almost felt like those guys that travel with the band to help set them up. What was it called? Roadie? Thank goodness he wasn’t one of those. He didn’t think he would be able to do such a task, since he knew little to nothing about sound setup.</p><p> </p><p>“My name is Brick, I’m Vincent’s manager. Though I mostly set up the concerts and tours. Now, we have here that it isn’t a for sure time frame for you. Correct?” Brick asked as he looked over his shoulder as he stared at Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, my boss wants me to keep a look out for the threat that could try to attack um… Vincent, once the threat is dealt with, I will be returning to my boss with a report.” Balthazar calmly explained. He wasn’t going to tell the manager that his boss didn’t have much faith in the young man. There was no way that he could allow the manager to have little faith in him as well, even though he didn’t want to babysit a grown man.</p><p>Brick was going on about the tour schedule, the concerts schedules. And of course that when Vincent wasn’t in his trailer that Balthazar was to follow him around. Or at least attempt too. That had caused the young man to blink a little at that one. “I’m sorry? Attempt too?”</p><p> </p><p>The tux wearing man just nodded his head. “Yes, he has a habit of taking off on days there is no rehearsal, signings, concerts or anything in between he tends to take off. He’s normally gone for a few hours before he’ll bother coming back.” Brick sounded a little annoyed at that. It made Balthazar start to think back to when his sister was little and would try to take off. He’d find her of course so this couldn’t be much different right?</p><p> </p><p>Though, this was becoming a mission that he was starting to regret more and more. Was his boss trying to make him fail in some way?</p><p> </p><p>“Now, as for your living area. We have a trailer set up for you. Honestly, you are the only bodyguard for Vincent since he started a few years ago. Normally his bandmates keep an eye on him but they don’t really do much otherwise. They don’t even seem worried about him.” Brick went on as he went on through his check list over what to tell Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Even going as far as knowing when it was time to eat and that Balthazar’s trailer was near Vincent’s so he could better listen for any sounds for any issues or risks of attacks. It was something that he wasn’t sure he’d be comfortable about but at the moment he couldn’t really be picky about it now should he?</p><p> </p><p>“Now, do you have any questions?” asked Brick.</p><p> </p><p>“Has these attacks really been going on since he started out?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Brick blinked his eyes as he looked up at Balthazar. “As far as I know yes. It seems to happen every few months or so. There has been the odd time it happened maybe five months instead of three but otherwise it still happens. We couldn’t figure out a pattern or anything of the sort.” Brick said with a small shrug of his shoulders. “Maybe it’s some crazed fan.”</p><p> </p><p><em>’Oh some disgusting creature of the paranormal coming after some man child.’</em> thought the blonde with a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re just hoping we can get this resolved so no one else gets hurt.” Brick calmly said before letting out a soft sigh as he looked over at Balthazar as he calmly said “Just please keep him safe.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll do all that I can to ensure his safety.” Balthazar promised.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.” Brick calmly said before he started to lead the way to the back doorways. Balthazar figured that maybe it was because they were going to the trailers? Turning his gaze to the trailers, he saw that they were mostly coloured for the most part. Well, all but one.</p><p> </p><p>One trailer was red and black. Odd combination though he just shrugged that off for sure.</p><p> </p><p>The other was a dark blue mixed with amber colouring which also made him think of something strange but once again he just decided to think of something more on that one. Maybe he was just over thinking on that one. There was even a silver trailer though he wasn’t sure about that one yet. Maybe it was his? Maybe it wasn’t. There was no telling about what would come to be from that one.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, he stopped himself outside of an orange, red and yellow trailer. All three of those colours almost looked like they were swirling, trying to blend together yet still trying to keep themselves apart. Balthazar thought that there was something familiar about those colours.</p><p> </p><p>Not that he hasn’t seen those colours before in his life. Far from it, he would always feel something about those colours, and they would get stronger whenever they were together like they were right now in his line of vision. He almost felt a little light headed but shook himself out of those thoughts. Breathing deeply, the young man looked over at Brick as the raven haired man said “This is Vincent’s trailer. Normally, it is just him in there but otherwise it’s mostly him and his bandmates.”</p><p> </p><p>Were they all really close? Balthazar just rolled his eyes. Of course, bandmates cared about each other so long as they got paid. That had to be the case, why else would they be so close like that?</p><p> </p><p>“Now, let’s go inside and introduce you all shall we?” said Brick, snapping Balthazar out of his trance. Blinking his turquoise eyes in confusion, the taller man looked over at the manager before nodding his head. May as well see the person that he was asked to guard while keeping an eye out for any paranormal creature that was after Vincent.</p><p> </p><p>For whatever reason that is, he wasn’t sure but he would have to try to figure this out as soon as he could.</p><p> </p><p>Brick went in first. “Hey everyone.” The manager called out. A couple voices answered him. “Crystal, Blade where’s Vincent?”</p><p> </p><p>“You know he hates it when you call him that.” Came a female’s voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, only I’m allowed to call him Vincent, you know that.” Said another voice, causing Balthazar to be rather curious as to who was in there. Was it really his bandmates or friends? He couldn’t be sure though he highly doubt the singer would have had his friends join him on a tour unless he decided to give them a free joy ride or something.</p><p> </p><p>“Anyway,” Brick started, causing Balthazar to look up at the doorway. He was unsure if he was to go in yet or wait for him to be introduced or not. Not like Brick got his name anyway. “The bodyguard is here so I hope you get along with him. There is no way of knowing when he’ll be leaving or if he’ll be leaving.” If? Did he really just say ‘if he’ll be leaving’? How long was this mission going to be?!</p><p> </p><p>“We can protect Vinnie ourselves!” said the female voice.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie?</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, we are capable of protecting him ourselves.” Said the other voice.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t doubt your skills but sometimes even you can’t find him when he disappears. You can’t be with him twenty four-seven right now.” There was a groan at those words. How many times has this happened? It had to be a modern occurrence at this point right? “Now, I want you both to be nice to him. Everyone knows how protective you are over Vincent but you need to let someone else do their job now in order to keep him safe till these attacks stop.”</p><p> </p><p>“Fine.” Came both voices.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, now come on in… uh… never got his name.”</p><p> </p><p>“Figures you wouldn’t.” mumbled the man’s voice from inside.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just rolled his eyes before walking up the steps of the trailer. Really, he just wanted this over and done with right now. Just wanting to get out of this as quickly as he could and try to do a perimeter check around the area to make sure that there was nothing going on right now that would put… Vincent? Vinnie? Whichever at risk.</p><p> </p><p>Upon entering the trailer, he looked around and saw the couch off to the side of the trailer. A full sized kitchen with a stove and everything. Even large cabinets that could most likely store a months’ worth of food if not more. The carpet was rather fluffy if Balthazar had anything to say about that one. There were some windows that allowed some light in though, at the moment the curtains were drawn to a close.</p><p> </p><p>Then he saw a hall at the back, leading to either a bathroom, or a bedroom. He wasn’t really sure as to what was there. Turning his turquoise over, he saw that two people were sitting on the couch, both of which were busy talking among themselves.</p><p> </p><p>The woman had longish dark curly hair. Maybe black? Maybe brown, he didn’t know but he knew that it was at least dark. She wore a red t-shirt and black shorts. Skin was rather pale, though maybe just a bit paler than his own. The woman also had on a pair of red sneakers and a pair of glasses that looked like they were teal while trying to blend in with brown.</p><p> </p><p>He also noticed that she had a golden charm bracelet though he couldn’t make out the charms at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>As for the man, he had hair that was so dark that Balthazar was positive that his hair was black. He could faintly make out a single gold earring in his left ear, and make out a silver necklace that had what could be best described as a cross charm with a stone in the middle. He couldn’t get a good look at it with most of the necklace hidden under his white t-shirt. He also wore a pair of black jeans and wore black boots.</p><p> </p><p>Was black a main theme with their choice of clothes?</p><p> </p><p>Though soon, he saw both of their gazes shifting to him. The woman had an odd mix of colours for her eyes, unsure if they were blue, green or grey or even all three together. While the man, his eyes looked like they were amber but for a split second he almost thought he saw his pupils quiver but maybe it was just the trailer being dark? He couldn’t be sure.</p><p> </p><p>The woman jumped up onto her feet as she pointed at Balthazar with anger within her eyes. “You!” She shouted, causing the blonde to raise an eyebrow at her. Did he do something wrong already? Does he know her? No, he didn’t recall seeing her before so there was no way that he would have seen someone like her. “You shouldn’t be here! Get out!”</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal that is very rude!” shouted Brick.</p><p> </p><p>“She’s right though, this man shouldn’t be here!” shouted the other man, as he pushed himself up onto his feet.</p><p> </p><p>“You too Blade?”</p><p> </p><p>Wait this guy was named Blade? What the heck? How was that even possible? Had to be some kind of weird bizarre nickname or something along those lines.</p><p> </p><p>“Get out! Don’t let Vinnie see him!” shouted Crystal, her eyes narrowed as she glared at the man.</p><p> </p><p>“Just leave, we don’t want you to protect Vincent!” shouted Blade as he held onto the woman. Unsure if he was trying to hold her back or something else. There was no telling of what would happen though he was ready to defend himself if that was to be the case.</p><p> </p><p>“Be reasonable you two. I care about Vincent as much as you do-“</p><p> </p><p>“No you fucking don’t! All you care about is the paycheck!”</p><p> </p><p>Huh?</p><p> </p><p>Brick narrowed his eyes before rubbing at his face. He wasn’t confirming Crystal’s accusation, nor was he denying it. That was weird as well, though Balthazar felt like he was missing something here but before he could even respond, the back door open. Causing everyone to look over as a new voice hit their ears.</p><p> </p><p>“So guys, wanna get some take out? I’m kind of in the mood for some Chinese or something. Maybe we can play some video games since the concert isn’t till to… morrow…?”</p><p> </p><p>Walking into the room was a bit of a short man. His skin tone was olive, most likely Italian or at least had some kind of mixed heritage. He had fluffy, curly brown hair that made Balthazar think this man had some kind of perm. Did men even get perms or was this just all natural for him? He also noticed that the man had some sideburns to him. Interesting choice for a hair style to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>The man had a square face with a rather prominent nose. Looking up he saw a pair of orange framed glasses with tinted lenses. Lowering his gaze, Balthazar noticed a gold chain around the man’s neck, made him think of those Italian movies Zoey made him watch when they were little. Or at least when both were in their teens.</p><p> </p><p>His clothes, a white undershirt with a black leather jacket. He wore a pair of green cargo pants with black combat boots. (Seriously, was everyone here wearing boots but Crystal?) Turning his gaze back up at the man’s dark eyes, Balthazar couldn’t help but stare at him. The man’s dark eyes were filled with shock, confusion, pain, torment… there were so many emotions that were swimming through his expressive eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, there was something odd about this man that made Balthazar really confused about all of this.</p><p> </p><p>Before he could even stop his words, the blonde asked “Do… do I know you?”</p><p> </p><p>The room went silent in that moment. No one moved, no one said anything, but the other man’s eyes just widened all the more as they stared at each other. Balthazar was sure that he knew this man from somewhere, as if some far off memory that was long buried deep within him but, he felt a voice hitting him in the back of his mind.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Vinnie is finally in the story, what do you think will happen? I hope your all enjoying this story so far... I'm trying to do something different with the AU this is kinda like a weird double AU I guess? not sure.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Emotional Whiplash</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar isn't sure what he feels right now and feels like he had bitten off more than he could chew at this point.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>play this song when you see lyrics<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyHPZ1eWyZI</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar blinked in wide eyed shock as he stared at the man before him. Even the other man, Vinnie? Vincent? Whatever his name was, he just stared at him with wide eyes. The emotions that flashed before his eyes were many, and some of them he couldn’t really narrow it down. “Do I know you?” Balthazar repeated, wanting to know if he had met this man before. Though he wasn’t sure if he had, it was more as if this man had just looked… familiar to him.</p><p> </p><p>As he gazed at the man before him, Balthazar saw the man seemed to regain some kind of sense of reality as he just let out a big smile. “Nah slick.” He hated him already. “We’ve never met before in your life.” (Weird choice of phrasing) He said before laughing a hearty laugh. Holding out his hand as he said “I’m Vinnie Dakota, but if you want, you can call me Dakota. Or Vinnie, whichever you prefer.”</p><p> </p><p>The blonde looked down at the man’s hand before him. Unsure if he was just trying to be polite, or keep up an appearance. Yet, not shaking his hand would just be rather rude either way.</p><p> </p><p>Reaching out, he grabbed a hold of Vinnie’s hand and nearly felt some kind of jolt go through his hand and up his arm. Using his free hand, he rubbed at his forehead as he felt the blood drain away from his face. Something was wrong here, what was going on?</p><p> </p><p>“Hey you okay? You don’t look so good there slick.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m fine.” Balthazar responded before lowering his hand away from his face as he said “I’m Balthazar Cavendish. But, you may call me Cavendish.” He didn’t want this man to speak his name, never wanted this selfish person to dare to speak his name.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure! I kinda like Cavendish more than slick anyway!” Did he really think slick was his name or something? “Plus, your last name sounds like a candy dish!”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re one to talk.” Mumbled Crystal from the couch.</p><p> </p><p>“No kidding, having a last name that sounds like state.” Blade mumbled.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on guys, you know I couldn’t help it!” Vinnie whined.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just rolled his eyes at them. Though he couldn’t deny that their words were anything but the truth. “So, you’re gonna be my bodyguard?” asked Vinnie with a tilt of his head. His eyes seemed a little confused, but also a little worried from behind his glasses. Why was he wearing those things inside? Was he planning to go out later?</p><p> </p><p>“I am, yes.” Balthazar replied before folding his arms behind his back. The blonde took a deep breath as he said “I will start my duties tomorrow for your concert. I hope you do not plan to go anywhere today, I would rather spend my first night here relaxing.” Plus to remove this headache that had formed.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes at Balthazar for a moment before he dug his hands into his jacket pockets as he chuckled. “Well, I hope you can keep up with me then. Because I don’t think I’ll make it easy on you.” That little… brat! Balthazar glared as he stood closer to Vinnie and glared down at him, causing the shorter man to look up in confusion. His anger was so powerful that he missed the odd tingling that seemed to race up his arms from when he grabbed the man by his jacket as he lifted him from the ground.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you not see how dire this situation is?” Before the man could even respond, Balthazar gave Vinnie a little shake, as if hoping to shake some kind of sense into him. How could he not see how dire this was?! “You are in danger. I’ve been hired to ensure your safety and I’ll make sure that you are safe. Nothing will stop that, do you understand?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just blinked up at him before he was about to open his mouth. “No, I swear if you are going to say that there is nothing to worry about then you are a fool. Don’t act like the world is sunshine and rainbows because in life there are dangers that could easily take a life! Do you get what I’m saying?! Don’t be a darn child and grow up!”</p><p> </p><p>The olive skin man’s eyes went from shocked, to angry, to… blank.</p><p> </p><p>That had kind of surprised Balthazar. To see the shorter man go through emotions so quickly made Balthazar wonder if he went through some kind of emotional whiplash. “I know how cruel life can be.” Vinnie whispered. The shorter man narrowed his own eyes as he said “I know that better than anyone. You know <em>nothing </em>about the harshness of life and what it offered.” With that, Vinnie slapped Balthazar’s hand away. It actually hurt a little. “Don’t assume things about people.” With that, Vinnie turned on his heel and walked back toward… his bedroom maybe?</p><p> </p><p>Blinking, Balthazar didn’t know what had just happened. Shaking his head, he looked around and saw the awkward look on everyone’s faces. It even surprised him that Crystal and Blade looked awkward. Before he could even speak, Crystal pushed herself up and walked over to the taller man. “Listen here.” She snarled at him. “You don’t know anything about us. Don’t know anything about our situation, you are judging us based on what grounds? How about you get out, go do what you want to do and just stay out of our way!”</p><p> </p><p>The taller man blinked his eyes in confusion before he nodded his head to Crystal. After that, he walked out of the trailer, feeling so exhausted and his head pounding something fierce. Giving his head a slow shake, trying to clear his thoughts for a moment before standing by the stairs of the trailer. Without saying a word, honestly he didn’t regret his words. Yet, he knew that he had overstepped his boundaries though since he had only just met them in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Yet…</p><p> </p><p>For Vinnie to be so nonchalant about his own safety? That he would dare to disregard his own safety over something that could very well put his life at risk? How irresponsible could this man be in the first place?</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Balthazar felt like his head was spinning. He didn’t feel so good and it started since he first laid eyes on Vinnie. There was something wrong with this. Something wrong with all of this and he knew that but he wasn’t sure what it could have been. Breathing deeply, the young man tried to get everything to stop spinning. “Maybe the trip wore me out?” He mumbled to himself before he picked up his luggage and started to make his way over toward the stainless steel trailer that had been left alone for him.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe… a nap should suffice before I go and patrol the parameter for any signs of trouble.” Balthazar whispered softly before making his way to the trailer that he was assigned and opened the door. It wasn’t locked… interesting. He shook his head as he made his way inside and closed the door behind him and locked it.</p><p> </p><p>Looking around the trailer, he saw that it was similar to Vinnie’s. Though, just rather dull when it comes to colour. Shaking his head, Balthazar figured that he could decorate later, or if he even needed to decorate in the first place. After all, it seemed like he may not be here long if Vinnie acted the way he does. The man could end up dead tomorrow if he wasn’t careful.</p><p> </p><p>Yawning, he set his luggage aside before he made his way to the back room. A nap was indeed what he needed. Just… a short one.</p><p> </p><p>Once he hit the bed, he set a timer on his phone to wake him up after an hour. An hour should be fine… with that, he fell asleep.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>His nap, to say the least had helped him to clear his head. Balthazar had managed to do a check over the lot, making sure that there were no traps or anything of the like.</p><p> </p><p>He found nothing.</p><p> </p><p>The only thing that he could have made out was just a few objects that didn’t belong in that location of the center. It just made Balthazar feel like he was missing something important but he hadn’t been able to find anything. Though, during his little trek through the lot, he had felt like there was someone watching him and it had him feeling nervous.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his face, Balthazar knew that he had to do something. He had shown a terrible first impression of himself. If he was going to protect Vinnie from any kind of danger for the time being, he’d have to try to earn some kind of trust. Even though he hated Vinnie with a passion, he wouldn’t want the man dead of all things.</p><p> </p><p>His heart clenched at the thought.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, he reached up and placed a hand over his chest. That was weird, but he didn’t think much of it. There was no point in trying to think of anything for the time being but figured that it was best if he apologized to the man when he got the chance.</p><p> </p><p>Since yesterday though, he’s had no real chance.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie had avoided him as much as he could since this morning, not that he could blame him. Yet, the few times he had noticed the few glances that the shorter man would give him. Made Balthazar wonder why Vinnie would even look at him if the taller man upset him so much yesterday.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe it was because of what Balthazar had said? Maybe he had crossed a line? The pain on Vinnie’s face spoke of a great amount of pain within his eyes. Yes, he should apologize to the man whenever he got the chance to do so.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man leaned himself against the wall by the doorway that lead the way to back stage. The concert was going to start in a few hours that gave the band time to prepare for their sets. The sound quality and so on. At least from what he had gathered thus far. He knew that there was still far more work to setups than what people would assume, but it still didn’t make it any easier on anyone now did it?</p><p> </p><p>Looking over, he saw that Crystal was checking over her drums, Blade was checking over… he couldn’t tell if that was a regular guitar or a base guitar. Either way, they were setting up but, he had yet to see Vinnie. Was this normal? Balthazar thinks that maybe he should start to get Vinnie himself every morning just to ensure that he was on time for anything that would ensure that he didn’t disappoint his fans.</p><p> </p><p>Before having to think more about it anymore, the door opened and in walked Vinnie. His hair looked a little askew, most likely from sleep. It was rather late though, so he wasn’t sure if Vinnie just woke up or if he just hadn’t bothered to brush his thick locks. The shorter man ran a hand through his fro of thick brown curls and his hair just seemed to have bounced back into place. “Dakota.” Balthazar calmly called out, causing Vinnie to nearly jump a little at the sound of Balthazar’s voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah! Cavendish, didn’t think I’d see you here today.” Dakota said with a weak laugh. Why did that unnerve him? “How are you?” It seemed that Vinnie was just trying to make some small talk so he wouldn’t make this conversation any less awkward or, it was because Vinnie knew, that Balthazar knew that the shorter man was avoiding him.</p><p> </p><p>Rolling his eyes, Balthazar pushed himself from the wall as he stood in front of Dakota. “I want to say, I am sorry for my actions yesterday.” Vinnie blinked at him in confusion on that one. “I was out of line, I just saw it unnerving that you wouldn’t see that your life is valuable to some people.” Vinnie just kept staring at him as if not expecting the words to have escaped the taller man in the first place. “But, you must see that I am only trying to do my job. I am to ensure your safety, and if you make it harder for me to protect you then you could end up dead.”</p><p> </p><p>Digging his hands in his pockets, Vinnie closed his eyes, as if he was trying to think of the words that Balthazar had spoken. It made the taller man feel his heart freeze in his chest for some reason. “Well, I won’t lie the things you said did hurt.” Now it was Balthazar’s turn to blink in confusion. “More so since you really don’t know what I’ve gone through in my life. You don’t know me so you shouldn’t judge, just like how I don’t judge you.” Balthazar could only nod slowly at that.</p><p> </p><p>Then, Vinnie let out a big grin. “But, I guess that just means you are just a big softie! You have this whole fancy shtick going on to go with the whole ‘tough’ guy act but nah!” His grin got bigger, and that unnerved Balthazar. “But you are just a big ol’ softie!”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not old.”</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, you’re right you’re not old at all!” Vinnie said with a chuckle. Why did that just seem to piss Balthazar more? “Plus, if you were old, you’d have wrinkles, or maybe just grey hair and a moustache! Yeah, I can picture you with a moustache though not wrinkles since, ya know, you’re not old-“</p><p> </p><p>“I get it!”</p><p> </p><p>Everyone turned to stare at the tall man, his face turning pink from his outburst. Normally he was so collective when it comes to his emotions but… blast it all. What was with this man before him? He seemed to try to upset him in some way. Though that just made him feel more anger towards this man. “Am I a <em>joke</em> to you?!”</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, you’re not even funny. I don’t even think you can make a joke, let alone be one!” Vinnie said with a laugh.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar glared at him all the more, this man was making fun of him!</p><p> </p><p>Soon, his mind was enveloped in a fog. Balthazar gripped at his head as the world around him started to surround itself with a dense fog. Images filled his mind, images that he couldn’t figure out where they were but they were familiar to him.</p><p> </p><p><em>”Come on that isn’t funny!”</em> said a voice, a voice that sounded familiar to him but so distant.</p><p> </p><p><em>”It was funny though! You tripped and fell in a puddle, it was cute and funny!”</em> said another voice.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”I’m not a joke you know!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Nah, you’re too cute to be a joke!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Hey Cavendish you okay?” called Vinnie’s voice, causing the tall man to blink his eyes, trying to clear the fog from his head. Groaning, he rubbed at his face as he tried to focus on Vinnie. Vinnie’s hands were placed on the now kneeling man’s shoulders. As if to keep him steady, or even to bring him back? “Hey, focus on me man. Come on, breathe, that’s right.” Vinnie coaxed, how was it that even though they were just arguing just yesterday, and that Balthazar was angry with him mere seconds ago that he was trying to calm him down? Coax him? He wasn’t sure <em>what</em> Vinnie was trying to do right now.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened to you? You just zoned out! Does that happen often?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“No, first time it’s happened.” Balthazar whispered as slowly rose to his feet, a little unsteadily even with Vinnie’s help, before rubbing at his face as he tried to think on what had just happened. It was rather odd that it happened in the first place, but maybe it was some weird trick of the mind? Yes, that had to be it. “I think you should get to your bandmates, and practice. I’ll keep an eye out for any signs of danger.”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh… sure?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie let go of Balthazar, and started to make his way to Crystal and Blade. Yet, Balthazar couldn’t help but blink as he looked over at the three. Watching as they chatted among themselves, Vinnie and Crystal laughed while Blade just seemed a bit unamused by what they were talking about. Yet, he knew that it was none of his business. His main focus was to ensure Vinnie’s safety, maybe he can take a quick look around before the concert started.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Sounds like a plan to me…’</em> Balthazar thought to himself before he started to walk away from the trio. Yes, he would need to get away for the time being and maybe while he was at it, he’d clear his head.</p><p> </p><p>To say that his little inspection that had taken him a few hours bore fruit would be a lie. He had found honestly nothing about any signs of someone trying to break in to hurt Vinnie. Letting out a disappointed sigh, the blonde made his way toward the path that would have taken him from the back stage to the front. He couldn’t help but look over at the other side of the stage as he saw Blade, Crystal and Vinnie chatting among themselves as they waited for the signal for them to get onto stage and take their place.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but watch. Vinnie was nothing but smiles as he chatted among his friends, and even his friends were happy to be chatting to him. It made him wonder how long they’ve known each other.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie though for a brief moment had looked sad after Crystal had said something to him. Making some hand gestures that he wasn’t sure what she was trying to say. Though she looked worried and concerned for her friend about something. It was hard to really see much of anything from how far away they were, though Balthazar figured it was best that he didn’t bother trying to figure anything out.</p><p> </p><p>After all, he wasn’t planning to stick around.</p><p> </p><p>“Wonder if the attacker will come out today.” Balthazar mumbled to himself as he watched the trio make their way to their positions. The crowds were cheering and all but screaming their excitement. Made him think of his sister when she was excited when she would listen to her favourite music. Giggling, squealing and clapping her hands so quickly that he was amazed that her wrists didn’t hurt.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Never did get that autograph but, does Zoey even listen to his music?’</em> thought Balthazar before shaking his head.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie got to the microphone, a radiant smile on his face. He almost looked like he regained some colour to him. Had he been paler before? Huh… “Hey everyone! I hope you’re all having a fantastic evening!” Shouted Vinnie, everyone cheered. “Alright, I guess it’s time for ‘Eclipse’ to start playing!” Wait what? Was that their band name? Quickly, Balthazar pulled out his phone and sent a quick message to his sister, if that was a band than Zoey would know.</p><p> </p><p>With that, he tucked his phone back into his pocket as he listened to the music that would start to play.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The stars above they light the road</em>
  <br/>
  <em>No time to wasteLet's hit the gas and go</em>
  <br/>
  <em>We'll drive straight through the night</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes a little. The song had only just begun and he had to admit that they were pretty good. Vinnie, even had an amazing singing voice. Even putting well, all of his emotion within his words. It made the young man rather curious as to how anyone could place so much of their feelings into their words. Turning to the crowd, he saw that everyone was already cheering for the man.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Just take my hand, we'll find a way</em>
  <br/>
  <em>To make a memory that never fades</em>
  <br/>
  <em>That never fades away</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie even had a big smile on his face as he sang, yet the smile looked a little bitter sweet. There was an overwhelming energy that almost seemed to fill the crowd. This was something that Balthazar had never felt before from any of the recitals that he had attended himself when he was a small boy. It was rather odd, but he almost felt a little giddy. Though not much, he wasn’t going to allow himself to wallow in the music. He had a task and he was going to complete it.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And when the world hits hardest</em>
  <br/>
  <em>When you feel the darkness</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Try to take your smile away</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You can take that memory</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You can hold it close and say</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Hey!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie was swaying to the music as he played. Most musicians wouldn’t dare such a thing. Yes, they would tend to almost seem to flow with their music as they played but Vinnie? It almost seemed as if was doing some kind of a dance himself as he played. Turning his gaze over to Blade and Crystal, he saw that Crystal had on a blindfold as she played the drums. <em>’Why would anyone do such a thing?’ </em>He thought to himself before looking over at Blade as he saw that the man was focused on his instrument rather than their surroundings.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Remember that night</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Under the starlight</em>
  <br/>
  <em>We made a promise that</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Even if things got bad</em>
  <br/>
  <em>We would not just walk away</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Must have rather strong vocals to be able to scream his words like that. Normally it would cause anyone to blow their voice box. Or even hurt their own ears with him pretty much screaming into a microphone. Gaze once more upon the crowd, Balthazar saw everyone cheering for the olive skinned man. No one though dared to make a move on the stage to be close to Vinnie. The energy around the area almost seemed as if it was super charged to a degree, maybe it was due to the large crowd? People did tend to let out their own excitement during concerts like this, which would result in some kind of charge of energy that people weren’t all aware of most of the time. Yet, he knew that the attacker had to be there somewhere.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>So I don't see</em>
  <br/>
  <em>How you can just leave</em>
  <br/>
  <em>But even if you go, if I am on my own</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I'll carry on and on and on till you're just a memory</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar felt more of Vinnie’s emotions being laced into the words. People of course couldn’t seem to have reacted the same way as they were just enjoying the flow of the music more than anything else. It almost made Balthazar sick to his stomach that people couldn’t seem to listen to the message within the song. It made Balthazar rather curious if people- wait a minute, why was he even reacting to the song in the first place? Frowning, he looked over at the olive skinned man once again and saw that the short man had his eyes closed as he sang.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The stars above, they light the road</em>
  <br/>
  <em>No time to waste</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I'll hit the gas and go</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I'll drive straight through the night</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but let out a confused sigh. Rubbing the bridge of his nose as he tried to be rational. Maybe Vinnie just had a natural gift with music? Could easily place his emotions within music. He couldn’t really be sure on that but he felt like there was something bigger here. Or maybe he was just over calculating this? He couldn’t just assume things again, that was how he became a third class agent in the first place! Maybe this energy was coming from the crowd and it was affecting him? He couldn’t be sure but knew that he’ll have to see if he can get a scanner from the boss for the next show.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I try to leave the past behind</em>
  <br/>
  <em>But I just can't forget that stupid smile</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You wore it all the time</em>
</p><p> </p><p>A frown marred Vinnie’s face. Why was he frowning right now? Was he having some kind of memory that was plaguing him much like the song was insinuating? <em>’Odd, what could he be thinking about?’</em> Balthazar thought to himself before letting out a soft sigh as he looked back on the crowd. A few people were shuffling about, though still none of them had tried to get closer to the stage. It was confusing, baffling and irritating all at the same time. It made him want to take his knife and stab the wall out of anger.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And my heart it hardens</em>
  <br/>
  <em>But the hardest part is</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Everytime I close my eyes</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I replay that memory</em>
  <br/>
  <em>And I just can't help but smile</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Ahhhhh!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar leaned against the wall near the stage. Crossing his arms as he listened to the tune of the music. How was it that he could reveal emotions and yet keep himself composed? He had heard that most musicians would tend to put their own inner most thoughts into the songs they played but this? This was beyond emotions but almost memories themselves to a degree. It was puzzling, and it almost made him want to dig more into this. Yet, he knew that it wasn’t his business to do so.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And on that night</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Under the starlight</em>
  <br/>
  <em>As you turned to leave</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I wish I'd stopped you. I wish I'd said</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Don't walk away</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie had opened his eyes, eyes looking almost sad from how he could make out from his position. Balthazar just sighed. Okay, so maybe he knew little to nothing about the man. Knowing that his words must have struck a chord with him after all if he was singing a song this sad and emotional. Enough so that it was even swaying Balthazar himself? It made him rather curious if there was a means he could try to make it up to him other than the apology that he had given earlier.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>But it's okay</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I will be ok</em>
  <br/>
  <em>And though my heart is weak I won't accept defeat</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I'll carry on till you're a memory</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Now Vinnie just sounded like he was just shouting into the heavens. The way his voice sounded nearly broke something within Balthazar. Shaking his head, the young man knew that his mind was just trying to play tricks on him. It was the energy, that’s what it was. Nothing more, why else would he be feeling anything otherwise? He didn’t like musicians, not with how selfish they were.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Even though you're gone</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Somewhere inside my heart</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You will always have a home</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie dropped down to his knees in that moment. Balthazar almost rushed out thinking that somehow an attack had come about. Yet, when he saw that there was no wound, no blood, or even a cry of pain he just stood there in shock. Vinnie looked up at the crowd for a moment before lowering his gaze. Eyes sliding closed as he played his guitar, his words echoing through the base of Balthazar’s skull.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>All that I can do</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Is keep driving down this road</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Alone</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The song finished on a bit of a sad note. Balthazar blinked as he saw Blade walking over to Vinnie and placed a hand on his shoulder. The short man blinked as he looked up at his friend and just grinned. As if trying to tell his friend that he was okay. Blade helped Vinnie up onto his feet and patted his back. Balthazar couldn’t help but blink at what had just happened.</p><p> </p><p>The moment the song ended, the energy for the most part had stopped flowing but the area itself was still super charged. Sparking almost. It left Balthazar feeling tingles all over his body and it made him shudder. There was definitely some kind of supernatural creature here, though he couldn’t figure out where it was.</p><p> </p><p><em>’I’ll have to ask boss to send me a tracker or something. Maybe then I could locate what the creature is, and where it’s hiding…’</em> thought Balthazar as Vinnie went with the concert with a smile on his face.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>okay, I'm trying to keep Cavendish in character which I won't lie is a little hard since I'm not into any fancy stuff myself but I am trying. To keep Dakota as a funny guy, I am a little better at that but still a tad difficult for me. I hope you're all enjoying this story so far, what do you think is with the mental fog or the weird flow of emotions? XP also I should mention I do have a few songs for the fic, they are to reflect what Dakota feels, that's all I'll say.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. What?!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar is stuck on the tour bus with Vinnie, Crystal and Blade. His issues seems to get more confusing when it comes to Vinnie Dakota.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The concert itself was rather uneventful to say the least. The energy from the concert had lasted for a few days to say the least but no attacks. That had to at least mean something, though it didn’t make his job any easier. He had sent a message to his boss to send him a tracker or at least some kind of detector. He would need it for any future concerts should the attacker be lost in the crowd.</p><p> </p><p>Even though the concert had lasted for a few days over the weekend, yet still no device to allow him to find anything. It seemed his boss wanted to wait a bit to send him anything while they were on the road. Not like he could get to his trailer much anyway. Only time he would be able to get to his trailer was when he’d go to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>Then there was the traveling. Traveling was something that he hated with a passion, it was boring, exhausting and it just brought out insanity in people.</p><p> </p><p>Such as right now.</p><p> </p><p>Here he was, sitting on the tour bus with everyone and Brick who was driving the bus. Blade was asleep near a nice sunny window, mumbling things in his sleep. How can anyone sleep in a moving vehicle? It just didn’t make sense to the young man.</p><p> </p><p>Then there was Crystal and Vinnie, both chatting among themselves as they played handheld video games. Both of which were speaking about what they were doing with the game, how they were doing a challenge or what weapons or strategies they were using. It was something that he himself couldn’t really understand. It just didn’t make sense to him.</p><p> </p><p>Rolling his eyes, Balthazar had decided to take this time to try to think of something that he can do to ensure that Vinnie wouldn’t try to escape him when they would be at concerts. Sure, the man hadn’t really taken off as he was busy with trying to help get the concerts and the sets prepared but at the same time, Balthazar figured that Vinnie was just waiting for the right time to try to escape.</p><p> </p><p>It would only be a matter of time till he would be able to escape. Balthazar wasn’t sure when it would happen. Or how it would happen, for all he knew it could happen at their next stop and Balthazar would have to chase after him just so he could find him and drag his sorry butt back to the bus, or to his trailer. If he could, he’d put a tracking device on Vinnie, but figured that in order to do that, he’d have to get close enough to do so and even then, Vinnie would most likely notice something on his jacket, shirt, or his neck for that matter.</p><p> </p><p>There was just no telling what he could do and then of course there was no possible way he could put a device in Vinnie’s boots as, well, the man would most likely feel something in his boots and remove it thinking it was a rock or something.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, Balthazar leaned back on his seat. Having decided to pick up one of the few books that he had taken on his mission to read. Mostly murder mysteries that he had started to rather enjoy. Some of them were rather painful to read yes, but he just figured it was due to the raw emotion that the writers would put in.</p><p> </p><p>A couple were based on a true stories of murders that had taken in his family’s home country, though that had been so very long ago. There was no telling what time it was that the murders belonged to themselves but he just figured, maybe it was something that no one wanted to remember.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, he looked over at the book and tried to focus on his book rather than the chattering and the music that would play in the background. Though it was hard for him to focus with both Crystal and Vinnie talking among themselves.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, how did you get the shield? I still can’t get it!” Vinnie said with a pout.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I looked it up. You have to have an amiibo and hold it over the controller. That way you can get to the shield among other items in the game.” Crystal replied with a smile that he could hear in her voice.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t understand a thing what they were saying. It was all gibberish to him. Though not like Balthazar was a gamer himself. Games were not his forte, though maybe they were Zoey’s though he couldn’t be sure. Shaking his head, he tried to go back to his book though wasn’t sure if he could even focus. Everything just seemed like it was trying to tear into his sanity.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh calm down Cavendish.” The young man blinked his eyes as he looked over at Crystal as he saw her looking at him with a rather unamused expression. “If you keep over thinking about crap like this you’ll just make yourself age faster. I don’t think you’d want wrinkles at your age.”</p><p> </p><p>“How-“</p><p> </p><p>“Your expression gave it away.” Crystal replied, though Vinnie just shot her a glare. As if telling her to shut up or watch her words carefully. Though the young woman just merely shrugged her shoulders before going back to her game. “Vinnie wanna try doing a map together? Or a war?” She tilted her head at the man next to her. Vinnie of course looked a little thoughtful as he tried to think on what the two would do for their game. Balthazar just frowned a little at the man. There was one thing that confused Balthazar as he looked at the olive skinned man.</p><p> </p><p>“Why do you wear those shades inside? It’s not that bright in here.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes in confusion before grinning. Why did he have a feeling that he wasn’t going to like the answer?</p><p> </p><p>“Oh that’s easy!” Vinnie said with a laugh. “If I take them off, you’ll just fall in love with me. Don’t want that do you?”</p><p> </p><p>Was everything a joke to this guy?!</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just glared, which only seemed to make Vinnie laugh all the more. All but slamming his book down, Balthazar pushed himself up from his seat as he started to make his way to the fridge. He needed something to drink, or at least something to do that would get him away from Vinnie. There was no way that he was going to allow himself to be driven into insanity from that man.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t be so dramatic Cavendish.” Crystal called out before adding “That’s normally my thing.”</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal come on, people are allowed to be dramatic.” Vinnie replied.</p><p> </p><p>“But I should be the dramatic one! I’ve been that way since we were kids!” Crystal gave a whine only to laugh.</p><p> </p><p>So, they’ve known each other since they were kids? And still friends as grownups? Interesting. Most friendships don’t last that long. To have a bond that strong was indeed rare among adults nowadays but, Balthazar couldn’t deny that it wasn’t a nice thing to see.</p><p> </p><p>Didn’t change his view on Vinnie though.</p><p> </p><p>Once he got to the fridge, he was about to grab himself a bottle of water till his phone started to go off. Everyone (minus Blade) stared at Balthazar, causing him to sigh softly. He pulled out his phone as he saw the caller ID was his sister. Accepting the call, he calmly said “Hello Zoey.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Balthy! Why didn’t you tell me sooner that the singer you were seeing was Vinnie Dakota?!”</em> nearly shouted his sister, causing him to pull his phone away from his ear. Dear lord his sister had a set of lungs on her.</p><p> </p><p>The moment he was sure that his sister was done screaming at him, he placed his phone back to his ear as he sighed. “If I recall, I messaged you but you had failed to reply to me Zoey.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”I was busy with getting myself set up at the apartment. I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t get paint on the floor when I would be working on one of my paintings!”</em> Zoey complained. Balthazar could only roll his eyes at that. He loved his sister dearly but sometimes she procrastinated a little. Before he could even say anything else, Zoey went on <em>”Did you ever get me that autograph like I asked for?”</em></p><p> </p><p>“No, I hadn’t had a chance plus he’s just like I thought he was.” He whispered softly, low enough that only his sister could hear.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Balthy, not everyone is the way you think they are. You could be wrong-“</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“I’m <em>never </em>wrong Zoey.”</p><p> </p><p>A sigh was heard from the other line and he knew that Zoey was going to go on one of her rants. <em>”Balthy, there are times where even you can be wrong you know. You do know that people can be wrong, it’s how things are.”</em> His sister replied, making Balthazar wanting to groan. Reaching into the fridge, he pulled out a bottle of water before closing it behind him. Personally, he’d rather have a nice cup of blackberry tea but at the moment he couldn’t even do that.</p><p> </p><p>Pressing his shoulder into his phone, the young man couldn’t help but rub the bridge of his nose as he groaned. “Okay, tell me the one time I was wrong.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Well, there was the time you thought that the maid was stealing your clothes but really she had misplaced them in father’s room since at the time you both were the same size.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“I still think she was trying to steal-“</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Then there was the one time you believed that someone from your orchestra in school was spreading rumors about you when really it was just someone who thought you stole their girlfriend from them-“</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Zoey-“</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Oh and don’t forget that time the guy you thought was asking you for directions but really he was-“</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“I get it! Stop it! I said <em>one </em>example!” Balthazar shouted into the phone. Everyone started to stare at him, even Blade woke up from his nap. Blushing all the more, the young man tightly shut his eyes, took a deep breath before he said “Look, I don’t like admitting I make mistakes but I still stand by my statement.” He wanted to deny that his sister was right about anything. Though really, he couldn’t be sure if he could even say that he is still right at the moment. It just seemed almost pointless to even say anything.</p><p> </p><p><em>”Sorry Balthy, but I couldn’t resist!”</em> She said with a giggle.</p><p> </p><p>Rolling his eyes, Balthazar calmly said “I didn’t find it funny at all.” Which he didn’t, sometimes his sister’s jokes would go too far. Maybe that was why he hated it when Vinnie makes jokes because it reminded him of his sister’s poor tastes of them? Or at least her poor choice of words when it comes to her trying to be funny.</p><p> </p><p><em>”Will you still get that autograph for me?”</em> asked Zoey with a nervous tone.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t make promises but I highly doubt that I can get any kind of-“</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, mind if I talk to her?” asked a voice from behind Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his turquoise eyes, Balthazar turned his head to stare at Vinnie. Who must have put his game aside when he heard Zoey’s shouts and of course Balthazar’s end of the conversation. “Why should I let you talk to-“</p><p> </p><p>“You seemed like you’re having trouble and from what I can hear, she really wants an autograph.” Vinnie said with a sunny smile. Balthazar narrowed his eyes, just as he was about to say otherwise, he could hear Zoey speaking.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Please let me talk to him Balthy! If you do I promise never to ask you for anything big for a year!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Groaning, Balthazar handed Vinnie his phone and crossed his arms. Not happy about this whole thing, honestly sometimes he thinks that he spoils his sister a little too much. He’ll have to try to put a stop to that at some point but, he had promised to get an autograph for his sister at some point. Just wasn’t sure when he’d be able to get one to her is the only issue.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, this is Vinnie Dakota.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked over at Vinnie as the man spoke to his sister. He had a big smile on his face while speaking to Zoey though he wasn’t sure why he was even smiling in the first place. It just didn’t make sense to the young man but figured he wanted to ensure that he at least sounded happy, and had to look it to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey though, sounded happy from what he could make out, his sister sounded really excited. Maybe even down right giddy about the whole thing. To speak to a famous person? That would make anyone’s day to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>“So, you had asked Cavendish to get you my autograph?” Vinnie asked, he looked a little confused before chuckling. “Yeah, he told me to call him Cavendish instead. Oh? You want to see how he’d react if I called him Balthy? Let’s see!”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie looked up and grinned brightly as he said “So, Balthy, this Zoey girl wanted me to call you that!”</p><p> </p><p>“Only Zoey can call me ‘Balthy’. You have no permission to do so!” Balthazar nearly snapped. Was everything a darn joke to this man? He wanted to shout and scream but darn it all he couldn’t do that! Knowing that if he lost his temper again that he would say something he’ll regret and with them being on the bus right now, there was no where they could go. That was something he’d rather not have to deal with.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie shrugged his shoulders before going back to the phone call. “Nah, he didn’t like it. Says that only you can call him that. Figures huh? Well, not that I’d know but he sure seems like he’s a stick in the mud.” Balthazar just glared. “Yeah, you know you’ve known him for a while eh?” He chuckled before running a hand over his hair. Balthazar couldn’t help but watch as the curls bounced back in place before watching as Vinnie laughed. “Yeah, I can send you an autograph. I’ll sign a piece of paper for you or even a hat. Whatever you want, I’ll sign it and get Cavendish to send it for you when we stop near a town with a post office.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked at that one. He was willing to sign something for Zoey? That seemed a little odd though he knew that there had to be some kind of a catch. There just had to be a catch, there just had to be a catch for the autograph. “Great, well I’ll let you get back to Cavendish. Look forward to your autograph okay? Bye Zoey.” With that, Vinnie gave the phone back to Cavendish and grinned before going back to the couch.</p><p> </p><p>The young man let out a soft sigh, before he could say anything else, Zoey cut through. <em>”I can’t believe I spoke to Vinnie Dakota! Oh my god! My dream came true to talk to a famous person!” </em> Balthazar pulled his phone away from his ear once again. Zoey really does have a good set of lungs on her. Rolling his eyes, the young man waited for his sister to stop squealing before he placed his phone back to his ear.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you done now?” He asked blandly.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Yes.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Good, now how are things there anyway? I know that I may be gone longer than planned but-“</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Everything is fine Balthy! You don’t have to worry, but the moment we have our family trip I’ll let you know okay?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“I look forward to the trip.” Balthazar said with a chuckle. “Bye Zoey, love you.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Love you too Balthy!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Once he disconnected the call, the young man made his way over toward the seat he had once occupied with bottle of water in hand. As he started to sip at his water while he read, Vinnie spoke and nearly had him choking on his drink.</p><p> </p><p>“Your girlfriend sounds lovely.”</p><p> </p><p>What?!</p><p> </p><p>Coughing, Balthazar pounded at his chest as he tried to clear his airway. “What?!” Was all he could get himself to say before coughing more. Once he was able to catch his breath, the young man managed to wheeze out “What are you talking about?!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, the girl you were talking too on the phone. She’s your girlfriend right? You both seem like you get along pretty well. Even willing to get my autograph for her.” Vinnie said with a big smile on his face. Yet, for some reason Balthazar swore that he saw a strain in that smile. His eyes almost looked as if they were filled with pain.</p><p> </p><p>Didn’t excuse what the man thought though.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, Balthazar spoke “She is my younger sister!”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes in shocked confusion. His smile slowly started to fade before he had an actual smile on his face. “Oh, okay!” He chuckled a little before he looked back to Crystal chatting among themselves. Yet, Balthazar saw the angry look on the woman’s face and it was directed at the blonde before she turned her gaze back to her friend. Why did that woman seem to hate him?</p><p> </p><p>What did he do to have both her and Blade to hate him for no reason?</p><p> </p><p>It had to involve Vinnie somehow. Or even how Balthazar felt like he had met Vinnie somewhere. That feeling itself never left him. Even though Vinnie said otherwise, he just couldn’t shake that thought from his mind. Maybe there was something in his past that he couldn’t recall? Frowning at himself, the young man let out a soft sigh before he pushed himself up and made his way to the back room. It wasn’t really used unless they were going to be on the road late at night. Though, at the moment Balthazar just wanted to get away from the shorter man.</p><p> </p><p>His thoughts were nothing but confusion and anger toward Vinnie and he wasn’t even sure why about the confusion.</p><p> </p><p>But he hoped to find out sooner rather than later.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>it'll start to get better by next chapter trust me.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Misunderstanding and a Save?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Cavendish has a weird nightmare that feels so familiar but unfamiliar at the same time. Though that was the least of his problems as he has to look for Vinnie and has an odd conversation with a strange woman who looks familiar to him and then, Vinnie himself surprises him with something he didn't think to be possible.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <em>Balthazar found himself in a snowy waste land. He couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the unmarred snow. It was hard to find snow that stayed so pure, untainted by the cars of today. Turning his gaze moved to the trees, all of them lacking their leaves due to the cold weather. Yet, the branches themselves were lined with ice and snow. Making them sparkle as if he was in some kind of mythical world.</em>
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  <em>Maybe a world that lived only in fantasy or dreams.</em>
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  <em>His eyes were widened at the marvel, the amazement was clear in both his eyes as well as his expression. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight, knowing that this was something his brother would enjoy-</em>
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  <em>Wait, he didn’t have a brother…</em>
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  <em>Balthazar couldn’t help but give himself a mental frown. His body wasn’t moving like he wanted it too. Something was wrong, it almost felt like he was watching someone’s life before their eyes, with his eyes. He wanted to grab a hold of his face to stop the dizziness that he knew was going to come. Yet…</em>
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  <em>His body refused to listen to his will.</em>
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  <em>His body was making his way toward the frozen pond that was nearby, causing Balthazar to stare in confusion. There was someone across the lake, waiting for him. It was an older woman. The body that he was inhabiting had pretty much told him that it was his mother. But, the young man knew that it wasn’t his mother, yes his mother was young but not this young. This woman though, was wearing a dress that didn’t belong to the modern time.</em>
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  <em>It made him think of the paintings that lined the grand hall of his family home.</em>
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  <em>Balthazar was about to speak but the woman was calling out to him. Saying something along the lines “Come my son, we’ll start ice skating soon!” She even had a big bright smile on her face.</em>
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  <em>Yet, Balthazar had a feeling of foreboding creeping up his spine.</em>
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  <em>The young man’s body started to move against his will once again. He walked over to the log that resided near the lake. Humming a soft tune that made Balthazar wonder where it was from. It was a song that he didn’t recall hearing before. Not even from his own family, yet it was soft, beautiful actually. It made Balthazar curious as to where the song came from.</em>
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  <em>As the humming persisted, he could feel a wash of love washing over him. It made this body feel a love that was powerful and… dare he even think of it as true love? He couldn’t even tell, as he himself never felt a love this powerful before in his life for another.</em>
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  <em>Soon, the young man found that the skates that he was fastening onto his feet were secure. Pushing himself up onto his feet, he started to make his way over to the ice and couldn’t help but frown as he saw that the woman hadn’t put her skates on yet. He couldn’t help but feel the thoughts flooding through his head.</em>
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  <em>‘Odd.’</em>
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  <em>“Mother, is everything alright? Do you need assistance with your skates?” He found his body speaking, the voice sounded so much like his own. How was that possible?</em>
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  <em>“Please dear? I’m having a bit of trouble.” Came her voice, it sounded so soft that he almost didn’t hear her. Yet, there was a strange tone to her voice that made the young man confused.</em>
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  <em>The young man nodded as he got on the ice. Slowly starting to skate toward his mother. Balthazar couldn’t help but be curious, there was something going on. Why was he having this kind of a dream? Why was he able to feel everything this young man was feeling? These weren’t his feelings, he knew that. He didn’t even know this woman and yet, well he did really know her at the same time.</em>
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  <em>Further and further the man found himself on the ice. The ice almost seemed slippery near the middle, and it made the young man want to turn back. Feeling that maybe it wasn’t safe to even move this far out on the ice. That it was better to have gone around to meet up his mother. Yet, like before he had no control over his actions and couldn’t even do anything to stop his movements.</em>
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  <em>It was then, that the ice gave out from underneath him. A scream escaped his lungs before he was submerged within the icy depths.</em>
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  <em>Balthazar felt panic filling his heart. Water seeping its way into his lungs in the hopes of suffocating him. The icy water was even starting to slow down his limbs as he tried to force his way through the surface. Problems… he had no means of getting out as he could no longer find the hole that he had fallen through.</em>
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  <em>His panic was growing stronger and stronger as he tried to slam his body into the ice. Hoping to break free. Hoping to break the ice so he could get out and get some much, much needed air.</em>
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  <em>Movements though started to slow down. His thoughts following soon after, yet the only thing that came to mind was how he felt for leaving someone behind. The love he felt earlier, washing over much stronger but, it was also sad. Balthazar couldn’t help but wonder a couple things during what could be this person’s final moments. </em>
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  <em>Thinking about the person that he loved. The time they spent together, the feelings that the other would feel learning that something bad had happened to him. The other?</em>
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  <em>Why wasn’t anyone helping him?</em>
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  <em>Using what little bit of strength he had, he clawed at the ice, hoping against hope that he could find some way to break free.</em>
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  <em>The last thing he saw was a cruel smile looking down at him.</em>
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</p><p>Balthazar shot up in bed with a scream, sweat covering his face as he tightly held the blanket that covered his lap. That dream, nightmare? Whatever it had been, had felt so real to him. Shivering, the feeling of the icy water coated his skin in that dream, even though it was far from being a part of reality. Looking around the room, panic had once again reached its icy grip around his heart, he couldn’t help but take a few deep breaths.</p><p> </p><p>It almost seemed like some kind of reflex right now at this point. A reflex out of having almost drowned instead of an actual need to survive.</p><p> </p><p>Turning his gaze over at the time, he saw that it was still pretty early. Far too early for his own liking. Five in the morning.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his face, the sweat still coated his skin as he tried to get himself to calm down. It just seemed weird that he was having such a nightmare. It’s been happening lately, having weird dreams or weird mental fogs that come over him now and again. It had only been a few days of them being on the road to get to their next destination but he couldn’t help but feel like everything was dragging on and on at this point.</p><p> </p><p>Such as those weird dreams.</p><p> </p><p>Inhaling deeply, the young man felt like he wouldn’t be going back to bed any time soon. Getting out of bed, he made his way to his dresser and pulled out something clean to wear for the day. Just something simple, he didn’t want to ruin any of his nice clothes while looking out for Vinnie since, there was no concerts yet. It would be a while till they reached the location of the next concert.</p><p> </p><p>They had mostly planned for pit stops for rest and to stretch everyone’s legs. Mostly so no one was cooped up together in the bus for too long. Honestly? Balthazar couldn’t help but agree with that, as no one would want to stay cooped up for so long. Even Balthazar himself would have been driven into insanity.</p><p> </p><p>Once he found something to wear, he started to make his way over toward his own personal shower as he got himself cleaned up. Wanting to wash away the remains of sweat and fear, as well as the chills that seemed to persist through his body even after having woken up. The shower itself had taken him a while, maybe twenty minutes to half an hour. Wanting to wash away the memories of the dream in the hopes of trying to move on with his day and hope that today went better than his first day.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, he felt like it would be a while before that would happen.</p><p> </p><p>His shower, now done Balthazar changed into a simple pair of a light green t-shirt and a pair of brown slacks. Nothing overly fancy yes, but it would at least get the job done of keeping him cool for the time being. He didn’t want to resort to shorts thought.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply once again, hoping to keep filling his lungs with air, hoping that would remove any and all thoughts of nearly drowning. (Was it even possible to drown in a dream?) Shaking his head, the young man started to make his way toward the door of his trailer, grabbing his boots as he slipped them on, hoping about before he reached the door and opened it.</p><p> </p><p>Only to blink as he saw Crystal standing there, arm raised as she was about to knock.</p><p> </p><p>Odd that she’d be standing there this early in the morning.</p><p> </p><p>“You alright?” She asked.</p><p> </p><p>“What makes you ask that?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal just gave a small shrug before saying “Heard a scream. Sounded like you were freaking out or panicking. Woke me up.” He… actually felt bad for waking up Crystal but had figured that she would have ignored him since she and Blade had made it obvious that they didn’t like him. Just as he was about to say something, Crystal held her hand up to silence him. “Look, if you’re worried about waking up anyone else don’t. I’m a bit of a mixed sleeper.” Mixed sleeper? “I can be a heavy sleeper with little to nothing waking me up, or some loud, sudden noises could cause me to wake up from shock.”</p><p> </p><p>That… was odd.</p><p> </p><p>“I still wish to apologize. I didn’t think I would have been able to scream that loudly.” Balthazar calmly said before raising a brow at Crystal. “Though, I am puzzled that you came to check up on me. I was given the impression that both you and Blade despised me.”</p><p> </p><p>Another shrug. “I wouldn’t say despise you, more like I just don’t want you near my friend.” Huh? That just made him all the more confused to say the least. “Vinnie has been through a lot in his life. I won’t say what since that isn’t really any of your business but what I can say, is that it always involves people like you.” Huh? What was that supposed to mean? Should he be insulted right now?</p><p> </p><p>Crystal ran a hand through her curly locks as she said “I may not like you, but I’m not cruel enough to not be concerned if someone is in distress.” She looked up at him as she asked “So, what happened?”</p><p> </p><p>“It was nothing. Just a bad dream.” Was all Balthazar could bring himself to say before he looked away. Honestly, he couldn’t really tell anyone anything about the dream. It was something that would just have people think maybe he was crazy or just having an over active imagination. So he wouldn’t think of anything of the sort. Shaking his head, he calmly said “I wish to go for a walk before Dakota wakes up, that way I can keep him safe while we stretch our legs and so forth.”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay.” Crystal calmly said before moving herself over to be out of the way. “He normally is awake later on in the day so you should have enough time to come back to see him.” Balthazar raised a brow at her, wondering why she was even telling him anything about Vinnie’s schedule. It just didn’t make sense to him, made him feel like there was something more that she failed to mention.</p><p> </p><p>Unless she was actually trying to keep an eye out for her friend in some way.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Balthazar nodded his head as he said “Thank you.” He then started to walk down the steps before he could hear Crystal calling out to him.</p><p> </p><p>“If you’re having any other trouble just talk to me alright? I can understand people’s emotions better than anyone.” Balthazar looked over his shoulder and saw her staring at him. Her face looked unamused but, at the same time her eyes looked a little concerned for his mental well-being. Odd, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth as the saying goes. He just gave her a slow nod before he went out for his walk. Maybe it was better that he went for a walk.</p><p> </p><p>A walk would help clear his head, the warm air made him feel a little better.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Balthazar had to admit, the walk had felt rather invigorating, but he wasn’t sure if it had fully removed the memories of the dream from his mind. The dream, it still persisted even now and he wanted to forget about it. It just seemed that it was the universe’s way to mess with him all the more.</p><p> </p><p>As if giving him degrading missions wasn’t enough, it had to give him weird dreams that shouldn’t have bothered him in the first place… but they did.</p><p> </p><p>Closing his eyes, the young man took a deep breath hoping that would be enough to calm his nerves. Though really, he wasn’t sure if that would even be the case right now. It almost felt as if nothing could remove those thoughts from his mind right now. Placing a hand on his forehead, Balthazar started to think that maybe he should grab himself something to eat. Maybe even brew himself a nice cup of tea.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe that would calm his frazzled nerves instead?</p><p> </p><p>Looking up, he blinked as he saw someone standing by Crystal’s trailer. “Huh?” He blinked once again before walking over.</p><p> </p><p>Standing there by the window was Blade. He was peeking through the window of Crystal’s trailer. Almost as if he was some kind of peeper or a creep. Both perhaps? Shaking his head, the young man walked over toward the red and black trailer before crossing his arms. “What pray tell, <em>are </em>you doing?”</p><p> </p><p>Blade jumped a little before he looked over at the young man before him only to roll his eyes. “I’m…” He paused for a moment before peeking back into the window. “It isn’t what it looks like.” He answered before peeking back into the window. Balthazar just raised an eyebrow at that before he tried to speak. Only for something to hit his own ears.</p><p> </p><p>Singing?</p><p> </p><p>“What is that?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal, she likes to sing when she’s in her trailer, alone.” Blade had a giddy grin on his face. Nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet as he listened to Crystal singing. Balthazar had to admit, she did have a nice singing voice. Yet, it was rather improper to be spying on her. Blade though just grinned all the more as he almost seemed to be giggling in excitement.</p><p> </p><p>“You have rather odd ideas of watching someone perform.” The young man said before shaking his head.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t watch her with her knowing.”</p><p> </p><p>“Pardon?”</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal has stage fright-“</p><p> </p><p>“Yet she plays drums.” Balthazar pointed out with a frown on his face. Blade, looked over his shoulder for a moment before just raising his own brow at the man before him. It seemed that the dark haired man hadn’t expected Balthazar to even say anything like that. Blade just sighed as he rubbed at his face, trying to think on his words carefully to explain things.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a deep sigh, he mumbled “You’ve noticed the blindfold right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I have. It had me rather puzzled that she would wear such a thing when trying to perform. Wouldn’t she need to see what she is doing-“</p><p> </p><p>Blade shook his head, causing the blonde to silence himself. His dark hair hung in his eyes before he brushed them back as he groaned. “No, Crystal has amazing muscle memory actually. It’s like how people can easily learn to type or play a piano without looking at the object in question.” Ah, he guess that makes sense. He himself could do something similar himself though he sometimes still had to look at the keys himself. “Because of her stage fright though, and to want to help her friend, Crystal settled on a blindfold to block out the crowd from her sight.” He had a small smile on his face as he added “With that, she can do anything but she herself also loves to sing. But prefers to be alone where no one can judge her.”</p><p> </p><p>More singing started up this time. Balthazar blinked as he looked over to the window, he could faintly make out Crystal dancing and singing about. Still in her pajamas that she wore when coming to check up on him.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the young man rubbed at his face before saying “You do you Blade, but I’m not going to allow her to slap me when she discovers that someone was listening in on her the whole time.” With that, the young man started to walk off. Making his way toward his trailer in the hopes of trying to get himself some jasmine tea. Yes, that sounds lovely actually.</p><p> </p><p>As he arrived to his trailer, his phone started to ring. “Blast it all.” He mumbled before picking up his cellphone. Seeing that he was getting a call from the manager, he wondered what was going on. Concern welled up in his chest in that moment, making him think that maybe another attack had happened after all. Wouldn’t that have been peachy? Accepting the call, he replied “This is Balthazar Cavendish.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Balthazar! Good I got a hold of you, Vincent went missing. Apparently he had gone for one of his ‘walks’ without really notifying anyone. But some of the crew saw him leave. I need you to bring him back now!”</em> Brick said with panic. Though, again he couldn’t tell if he was actually worried for the man or if he just cared about the paycheck.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course sir, I’ll leave right away.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Thank you, alert me when you’ve found him and are on your way.”</em> Before the young man could even say anything else, the phone disconnected. Of course Vinnie decides to leave before he could have his darn cup of tea! Checking the time on his phone, he saw that it was still early in the day, it was only eight in the morning.</p><p> </p><p><em>’I’ve been on my walk for three hours?’</em> No matter, he would have to hurry up and go looking for Vinnie before it was too late.</p><p> </p><p>Rushing away from his trailer, the young man went about on his search for the singer, hoping that it wasn’t too late.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>His search… is turning up empty handed.</p><p> </p><p>Not many people had seen Vinnie walking through here and it wasn’t like anyone could have anyway. The man seemed to have been rather elusive during his past escapes. No one could ever find him, as it turns out that Vinnie would be able to escape anyone from finding him and would return maybe around lunch or dinner. Depending on the time of day, depending on his mood and so on.</p><p> </p><p>It irritated Balthazar to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>Did this man, not see that his life was at risk right now? That there is someone out there, something, that was after him? That either was draining his victims for practice for the big event or something more.</p><p> </p><p>There was no way of knowing what could happen to him right now and that was worrying him. If something happened to Vinnie, then Balthazar would lose his job! Shaking his head, the young man kept searching. Trying to find any hint of an idea as to where Vinnie could have gone, yet he couldn't figure out where to even look.</p><p> </p><p>He knew little to nothing about the man.</p><p> </p><p>That made his job difficult.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man tried looking in less crowded areas, to the most populated of areas and yet he still came up empty.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his face, the young man wanted to groan, wanted to scream and shout. Yet nothing would help him with finding Vinnie. Letting out a grunt, he sat down on a park bench, leaning forward as he tried to think. The only things he knows about Vinnie is that he seems to like video games so maybe that would lead him to a game store? No, he would have most likely would have taken Crystal with him since they both play video games.</p><p> </p><p>Music store maybe since he also loves music with him being a singer.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe, that could be a clue but he also couldn’t be sure as to what it would be. Or if it would lead him there in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe some kind of food establishment? Since he had seen the amount of food the man could put away, it was rather amazing to say the least. Another hint, but was it a true key to figuring out where Vinnie was? Unsure, but it was another step in the right direction he hoped.</p><p> </p><p>“Excuse me but are you okay?” came a woman’s voice, causing Balthazar to look up and blink.</p><p> </p><p>Standing before him was a woman wearing a simple white tank top and a pair of blue jeans. She was curvy to say the least. Long curly brown hair, the curls were so tight that they almost made the young man think of ringlets.  She had olive skin, sunglasses that looked… oddly familiar to him but he couldn’t figure out where that was.</p><p> </p><p>Her dark eyes stared at him in concern though and that made him feel… unsure actually. He didn’t know what it was that he was feeling in his chest before he gave himself a mental shake of his head. “I’m fine miss, I am merely trying to find someone.”</p><p> </p><p>The young woman tilted her head at him before looking at the spot next to the blonde. “Mind if I have a seat with you?” She asked.</p><p> </p><p>“By all means, I cannot stop you if you wish to take a seat.” Balthazar calmly replied.</p><p> </p><p>The woman took her seat and pulled out a sketch book that she had been carrying. The sketch book though looked pretty worn down. It was a leather bound book so that made him rather curious as to how or why anyone would carry about a leather sketch book. Was it more comfortable to hold or didn’t it just make it warmer to hold onto when sweaty hands would stick to the material? He had no idea.</p><p> </p><p>“A penny for your thoughts?” She asked with a frown as she looked at the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m trying to find someone, but I have no idea where to look.” Balthazar admitted.</p><p> </p><p>The woman frowned a little as she turned to face him. Her sketch book open onto a blank page yet she still held onto a drawing pencil in her hand. Balthazar looked over at her for a moment, why did she look so familiar to him? He couldn’t be sure but for the time being he chose to ignore the feeling. “Why are you trying to find him?” She asked.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s my job. I’m supposed to find him, to keep him safe from whatever it is that is after him.” Balthazar answered. Honestly he didn’t even know why he was telling her in the first place. Thinking that maybe since he wouldn’t see her again he could tell her part of the truth but keep the main reason to himself as no one outside of the organization should know the truth. “I just need to find him and bring that man child back to our housing location and we can get this day over with.”</p><p> </p><p>The woman just seemed to stare at him. Her eyes furrowing into a concerned look before she shook her head, looking down at her sketch book as she started to draw something. He didn’t know, but at the moment he didn’t care to think on what she was drawing anyway. “Why do you think he’s a man child?” asked the woman.</p><p> </p><p>“Because he acts like a giant child! He’s irresponsible! He thinks everything is a joke, doesn’t take anything seriously since the moment I met him!”</p><p> </p><p>She merely hummed in reply. Still sketching, though he also couldn’t help but keep ranting about what he’s known so far about Vinnie. “Then his friends! Don’t forget his friends, they stare at me like I’m going to hurt him. One of them even told me that he’s been through some tough times in life-“</p><p> </p><p>“People make jokes when they grieve.” The woman cut in, causing Balthazar to blink as he stopped his rant. As if sensing his gaze upon her, she kept going. “People have different means of dealing with their grief. Anger, jokes, tears, getting lost in their work. You need to learn that people aren’t always what they appear.” She gave him a small sad smile before looking back down at her sketch as she added “Like you for example. You strike me as the fussy type. If you don’t get your way in some way, you throw a little fit.”</p><p> </p><p>“I never-“</p><p> </p><p>“See, I judged you and you got upset about it.” Balthazar blinked his eyes at her. She gave him a big smile, a smile that looked so familiar to him. What was with that lately? “Didn’t feel so good now did it?” She questioned.</p><p> </p><p>A frown started to grow on his face before he looked away. Okay, so maybe he was judging Vinnie for something that he didn’t understand. But, at the same time he didn’t know if he could stop his anger when it comes to the jokes. It just seemed as if Vinnie had seen everything as a joke, but… the pain in his eyes was there. That much was for certain. No one could fake such pain within their eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe he did need to try to be nicer… but, that would be easier said than done now wouldn’t it?</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, Balthazar was about to speak till she beat him to it. “Maybe, trying to understand him or even just talking to him like a normal person will make things easier for you both.” She gave him a smile before showing him her sketch.</p><p> </p><p>It was a sketch of Balthazar. Yet he looked like he was in deep thought. His eyes, expressive more than he thought to be possible. Looking up at her, she had a big and bright smile on her face that made Balthazar think of the sun itself.</p><p> </p><p>How can anyone have such a radiant smile?</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blushed a little before looking away from her. “Why would you draw me of all things?” He asked.</p><p> </p><p>“You were interesting.” She answered with a giggle before going back to her sketch book. Balthazar wanted to ask something more, but he figured it was best not to say anything else. “Just try to get along with him. You are to protect him right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, but he said he wouldn’t make it easier for me.” He mumbled.</p><p> </p><p>“Just talk to him like a normal person instead of like you would to a child.” Balthazar blinked a little at that. Wait, how would she know how he spoke to Vinnie in the first place? “You may learn something about him on a different scale.” She said before looking at the time on her phone. She gave a small frown before pushing herself up. “I should get going. Hoping to meet you again someday.” She said with a giggle before walking off.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, what else were you working on?” asked the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>“Hope and pray we meet again.” Was her reply before she disappeared in the crowd.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar didn’t know what had just happened. It just seemed to have happened so quickly, it was as if she just appeared then disappeared. Without a single trace. It was weird, but Balthazar knew that her words held their own wisdom within them. He shouldn’t treat Vinnie like a child yes, but at the same time he knew that they had to get along since there was no telling how long they’d be stuck with each other.</p><p> </p><p>The next attack may not even happen for a long while yet, but he knew that he had to keep himself diligent if he was going to protect Vinnie from any possible attacks.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man pushed himself up from the bench and went back to his search. Though he still wanted that blasted cup of tea before he went on his search but knew that he couldn’t do that. Maybe if he could check out the locations that he had narrowed down too, he would be able to find Vinnie before anything could happen to him.</p><p> </p><p>After all, he had wasted time sitting around to think and talking to that lovely woman.</p><p> </p><p>Blushing like mad, he tried to shake those thoughts away. No, he had no time for romance such as that. It wasn’t like anyone would have found him attractive to say the least. Everyone had seen him as the loser, the know it all, the rich boy who could easily cry to his ‘mommy and daddy’ when something didn’t go his way.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but sigh at that one.</p><p> </p><p>Okay, so he had lived his life like some rich kid, but he had a reputation to uphold. As the next head of the Cavendish Family name, he had to do something in order to ensure that he could keep the family lineage going and in order to do that he had to become a top hunter like his parents were. For that to happen, he had to finish this mission to ensure the safety of Vinnie Dakota no matter what may come his way.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, at the same time there was a little hint of doubt that would voice itself within the back of his mind. “Am I as they say I am?” He whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Who says what about you?” came a familiar voice, causing the blonde to blink his eyes as he looked behind him. There, stood Vinnie holding two cups in his hand. He could see the steam coming from the two cups and Balthazar couldn’t help but blink. Vinnie tilted his head a little at the man before him before holding out a cup. “Here, I think you could use this.”</p><p> </p><p>“Where have you <em>been?!”</em> shouted Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just blinked his eyes at him in confusion before shrugging. “Around.” Was all he said, that only angered him off all the more though he had to bite the bullet as it were. Accepting the cup, he took a sip only to blink a little.</p><p> </p><p>“Jasmine tea?” Balthazar blinked as he took the lid off and sniffed at the drink.</p><p> </p><p>“Yup, also with a hint of ginger.” Vinnie remarked before letting out a chuckle as he went on. “See, Crystal came to me and told me that you had a rough night. So, while you were out on a walk I thought I’d do my own thing, walking around. Sightseeing and so on.” Vinnie said with a chuckle before adding “And I remember you like jasmine tea as a choice of drinks and I thought you could use something to help you relax and added ginger thinking it’d help.” Vinnie had a thoughtful frown on his face before sipping at his own drink.</p><p> </p><p>Did he only do that to put up his front still or was it genuine? He couldn’t be sure, but knew that right now Vinnie was still in a great deal of trouble. “You are going to go back to the trailer, and you are going to go through a lecture.”</p><p> </p><p>“Gee, thanks.” Vinnie mumbled as he took another sip of his drink. From what Balthazar could smell, it was black coffee but, that was a mere guess.</p><p> </p><p>“You put a lot of worry in a lot of us.” Balthazar remarked.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure, Brick would be <em>so </em>worried about his cash cow disappearing like this.” Balthazar frowned a little at that. Did Brick really only care about the money? If that was the case why didn’t they just get rid of him and get a new manager? He couldn’t be sure, but then again he knew little to nothing about how this worked in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his face, (once he had put the lid back on his tea of course) he mumbled “Let’s just go back alright? It’s been a rather eventful day with us panicking.”</p><p> </p><p>“You were panicking? Didn’t think I’d see the day!” Vinnie said with a big grin on his face. “Ya know, since you’ve been so strict and uptight.”</p><p> </p><p>Must… stay calm…</p><p> </p><p>“Get moving Dakota.” Balthazar mumbled.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine, fine.” Vinnie said with a shrug before he started to walk on ahead. Sipping at his coffee as he did so. To be honest, the blonde wanted to yell at him, wanted to shout at him but at the same time he couldn’t really be mad at him all the same. Vinnie had gone out of his way to grab him some tea, after Crystal had told Vinnie about Balthazar waking up from a bad dream. Went out of his way to pick up tea and of course coffee for himself…</p><p> </p><p>It was weird, strange actually. But, Balthazar couldn’t help but sigh a little before he looked on ahead and saw that Vinnie was still sipping at his coffee. His free hand in his jeans pocket as they walked. “Um… Dakota.” Balthazar spoke out, a hum was his reply. “Thank you for picking me up some tea. That was… nice of you.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re welcome Cavendish.” Vinnie said with a chuckle as he looked over his shoulder. Only for his smile to slowly fade away in the moment. Odd, why did his smile disappear? Normally he was nothing <em>but</em> smiles and now it just disappeared in the moment? Suddenly, dropping his coffee, Vinnie started to rush at him. <em>”Look out!”</em> shouted the Italian as he tackled Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde let out a yelp, his tea flew out of his hand as he found himself rolling on the ground with Vinnie tightly holding onto him. He didn’t know all that had happened so quickly, far too quickly. Groaning, the young man found that he was on his back, Vinnie was tightly holding onto Balthazar. Both men groaned, though Balthazar couldn’t help but groan out “What the bloody hell was that for?!”</p><p> </p><p>“You… you could have been crushed.” Was Vinnie’s reply.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde couldn’t help but blink at that as he looked up, ahead of where they were standing before he saw what looked like an AC unit. Crushed, on the ground where he himself once stood. He couldn’t help but stare in shock.</p><p> </p><p>“You… you saved me?” Balthazar said in shock, and awe, his voice also came out in a breathy whisper.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie nodded his head as he lifted his head from resting against the blonde’s chest. His eyes were wide and fearful. Worried and concerned before he gave a big grin on his face. “Don’t worry though, you’re safe! That’s all that matters!” He then pushed himself up and held out a hand for the blonde to help him up. “But man that was one close call there! Happy I saw it in time!” Balthazar nodded his head, slipping his hand into the brown haired man’s, feeling that warm tingling flow through his hand, then his arm as Vinnie pulled him up. Only to hiss slightly in pain.</p><p> </p><p>That seemed to have worried Vinnie, as he asked “What’s wrong?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, tell me what’s wrong Cavendish.” Vinnie insisted as he checked the man over for any injuries. Only to pull at the man’s arm, causing Balthazar to hiss. “Oh, you got scraped up pretty bad. Come on, let’s head back and I can tend to that for ya. Wouldn’t be easy treating a scraped arm with where it is.” The shorter man pointed out, which was kind of true. From what the blonde could see, it was on his upper arm, just out of his line of sight that he would have to use a mirror to tend to it.</p><p> </p><p>“Why are you fussing over a scrape? It’ll heal.” The blonde pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>“No, it needs to be treated right away. It could get infected and you’ll get sick. Can’t protect me now if your sick can you?” He said with a mock smile before dragging the blonde back to the trailer.</p><p> </p><p>Now he knew that Vinnie was messing with him more.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Okay, sit down and strip.”</p><p> </p><p>“Excuse me?!”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh… take your shirt off Cavendish. I gotta tend to the scrapes on ya.” Vinnie pointed out as he held the first aid kit in his hands. Balthazar rolled his eyes before he unbuttoned his light green shirt and tossed it aside. Honestly, he didn’t like the idea, sitting on a chair in Vinnie’s trailer shirtless of all things. But the man insisted in treating his injuries or, just an injury. He couldn’t be sure how badly he was injured but to him it was nothing.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie had opened the first aid kit and pulled out cotton balls, tweezers and disinfectant. The young man carefully soaked the cotton ball in the disinfectant and gently started dab at the scrape. Of course, the blonde hissed a little from the pain. Though he also let out a deep breath as he clenched his hands into tight fists. “You already saved me, so why treat my injury in the first place?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, for one, I am kinda the cause of your injuries so should be my responsibility.” Vinnie pointed out, switching out the cotton ball and going back to his task at hand as he cleaned the bloody injury. Well, maybe it wasn’t that bloody as it mostly just oozed a little bit of blood but, Vinnie was being rather diligent in tending to his injuries.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, is it just your arm stinging? We did roll for a bit now.” Vinnie pointed out as he looked at Balthazar in the eye.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes for a moment before twisting his body around. Personally he couldn’t really feel anything else stinging. “I don’t believe so.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll take another look before putting this away alright?”</p><p> </p><p>“Whatever you believe you need to do, by all means.” Balthazar nodded to him. Vinnie nodded his head as he started to make a little inspection of the blonde’s shirtless body. It made the blond though feel a little self-conscious about this. He felt the blood rushing to his cheeks before he looked at anything other than the man inspecting him. “Looks like you fell hard on your left shoulder back here.” Vinnie pointed out as he started to try cleaning that up.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar winced, hissed and sucked in a sharp breath nearly all at once. It almost felt like his skin was on fire in that moment. Clutching his hands into tight fists once again, the young man tightly shut his eyes as he tried to keep himself calm and collected. He had to stay calm, but wasn’t sure what was going on around him.</p><p> </p><p>As if sensing what was wrong, Vinnie decided to speak up. “So, what was your dream about?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t want to think about it again.” Balthazar whispered tensely.</p><p> </p><p>“Talking about it may make you feel better.” Vinnie pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>“I’d personally rather forget about that dream. As if it never happened, it wasn’t important. It doesn’t even make sense in the first place as I know it was something that never happened to me. Nor did I ever see it anywhere.” Balthazar pointed out with a deep sigh.</p><p> </p><p>The Italian sighed softly before finishing his cleaning and started to wrap up the injuries in gauze and bandages. It seemed like he may be going a little too far with this but, the thought was all the same.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie tackled him out of danger.</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t have to do that.</p><p> </p><p>But he did, no matter if it meant putting himself in harm’s way.</p><p> </p><p>So, was that woman right? Had he actually judged Vinnie without a true reason? Looking at the man, he now noticed how Vinnie started to pack everything away and throwing out the used cotton balls in the garbage. “You should be good to go!” The curly haired man said with a bright and cheery smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe he really did misunderstood Vinnie after all? Maybe… he did have to try to learn more about him… but, at the same time he still wanted to learn about that woman and wonder how she knew well, anything about this in the first place. It was odd, but he hoped that he’ll learn about it some way.</p><p> </p><p>But for the time being, he hoped and prayed that this wasn’t going to be an everyday occurrence for him. After all, to be constantly saved by Vinnie Dakota was going to be very odd when it was to be the other way around. But, right now he couldn’t help but look at Vinnie as he put his shirt back as he looked at the man who was washing up his hands with a smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Did I really misjudged him after all?’</em> Thought Balthazar.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yeah, I got Vinnie to save Balthazar, the AC unit I figured would make sense since in the show it was the first time we saw Balthazar 'die' in the show by an AC unit and why not use it in a story? what do you all think? let me know XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar goes to the store with Vinnie to get some books but have some trouble during the trip. But, what he hadn't expected was to gain a friend.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar sighed softly as he rummaged through his collection of books. Honestly, he had thought that he had brought enough books with him that he hadn’t read yet. Though as it turns out, trying to avoid Vinnie for the first little while, had made him run out of books to read it seems. The young man let out a soft sigh as he ran a hand through his honey blonde locks before looking at the box of books.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man wasn’t sure what he could do. Maybe he could go out to buy some new books? Though, that was assuming that there was even a book store nearby.</p><p> </p><p>Lifting his phone from his pocket, he started to go through the listings for book stores. There had to be one nearby. He needed something to do after he had finished his patrol of the new location. They were going to have the concert in a few days’ time, so that still gave him enough time to purchase some books, but also be able to check to ensure Vinnie’s safety.</p><p> </p><p>Of course, he had managed to patrol the lot already. Checking for any locations where people could sneak in without being noticed or, had even put down detectors near the entrances to pick out if there is someone coming into the concert that isn’t human.</p><p> </p><p>That one, was hard to figure out the correct locations to put in but, was still grateful that his boss had sent in the devices to allow him to detect any and all paranormal creatures that would walk past it. Then of course, there was the device that would allow him to locate any paranormal creature that would somehow sneak into the concert itself.</p><p> </p><p>So many things could go wrong but he just hoped that it wouldn’t go wrong this time. Closing his eyes, the young man set his books back in their box before straightening himself up. Maybe he was over thinking things right now. Thinking that maybe there was so much going on in his head that he wouldn’t be able to think properly. Breathing deeply, he started to make his way toward the door to his trailer to leave.</p><p> </p><p>Moment he opened the door though, there was Vinnie. Arm raised as if he was just about to knock on the door. “Dakota?” Balthazar blinked his turquoise eyes at him in confusion. Honestly, he hadn’t expected the man to come to him for a change. They had started to get along a little better lately since Vinnie risked his life to save Balthazar’s. Though, it had always been Balthazar going to ensure that Vinnie was still in the hall practicing with the others or just relaxing in his own trailer.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his dark eyes at the blonde man for a moment before lowering his hand till they both resided within his jacket pockets. “Sup? I was wondering if we could go out and about today.” Vinnie said with a smile on his face. Balthazar just raised an eyebrow at him, as if to tell him to ask where it was he wanted to go. It was odd for Vinnie to even ask anything like this. “Well, you see I wanted to buy a couple things. See, Crystal and I ran out of video games to play and I kinda wanted to buy some more books anyway so-“</p><p> </p><p>“Books? You actually read?” Questioned Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, yeah. How else do you think I learned how to play my guitar?” Vinnie replied with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>A frown didn’t belong on Vinnie at all to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>“I still think you could have either gotten a teacher or checked videos on how to do it.” Balthazar pointed out, his arms folded behind his back, trying to look… superior perhaps? He wasn’t sure.</p><p> </p><p>Crossing his arms, Vinnie said “I happen to like to read thank you.” Then he grinned as he added “I just haven’t had a good time to go to a book store since most of the time I would get caught before getting to one and plus, Brick would make up some lame excuse to keep me locked up.” How did he find any reason to smile at such a thing as that? “But, a series I got into just released a new book for it so I was hoping to go pick up a copy. Since, well, I see you reading a lot I thought maybe you’d like to come with.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes in shocked confusion. Okay, he knew that Vinnie had been… kind to him since tackling him out of harm’s way but it was still baffling to see the man once again prove him wrong to a degree. Was Vinnie actually genuine with his kindness much more than he had previously thought? Yes, the man saved Balthazar and that itself had been genuine at the same time yet…</p><p> </p><p>It was just at the back of his mind that he wanted to be proven right still over his previous statements. But, for a change he wanted to be proven wrong about someone. He wasn’t sure what it was that made him want to think of such a thing, but he felt like it was important to change his thoughts about the man.</p><p> </p><p>“Look, if you don’t want to go I understand. Just thought I’d give an offer is all.” Vinnie said before he started to turn away.</p><p> </p><p>“I wouldn’t mind going with you.” Balthazar called out, causing Vinnie to blink his eyes after he turned around to stare at the taller man in shock. “After all, someone has to keep an eye on you. To ensure that you stay out of trouble.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just blinked at that before grinning like a fool.</p><p> </p><p>His smile though, it made Balthazar feel his heart quicken in his chest. How was it that these feelings would swirl around in his chest like this? Feelings that he didn’t know meant anything or if they were even true feelings in the first place? He knew that he had felt something for people in the past yes, but this? It almost felt like it was stronger feelings would swirl around within him.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Maybe I’m coming down with something…’</em> he thought to himself before saying “Allow me to get my wallet and we can leave.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sweet! This will be fun!” cheered Vinnie as he jumped up and down like a little kid. Balthazar actually found it rather endearing. Actually, it was something that he wanted to see more of, he wasn’t sure what it was that made him think of such a thing but, he wanted to find out.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The walk toward their destination was rather quiet to say the least. Not including Vinnie’s humming. The melody was rather soothing, and relaxing though Balthazar couldn’t really pay much attention to the tune as much as he had wanted. In all honesty, he had been rather focused on their surroundings. Thinking that there was still a chance that they could be followed.</p><p> </p><p>After all, Vinnie was still a target and there is no way of knowing if they could stay safe while they were out and about.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, Balthazar looked over at Vinnie, who was a few steps ahead still humming to himself. He couldn’t help but smile a little at the sight. It was a little odd to feel the smile on his own face but he was at least entertained by the happiness that seemed to radiant itself from the man before him. “So, what kinds of books do you find interesting?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie turned his head and blinked innocently. Then the man chuckled a little before saying “You’ll find it cheesy.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m rather interested in what kinds of books you would read. Cheesy or not.” Balthazar responded.</p><p> </p><p>The brown haired man before him gave a bit of a weak laugh while rubbing the back of his neck. It seemed that the question had caught the man off guard for the time being. Or, maybe he just wasn’t expecting Balthazar to even ask him about his interests? There was no way of knowing, but he wanted to know something about Vinnie. To see if… his accusations had any kind of foundations to even stand upon.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, he was pulled out of his thoughts by Vinnie’s shy voice. “To be honest, I like romance novels.” Balthazar blinked his eyes in shock on that one. “You may find it cheesy but, I love how people can find love. In the most uncanny of places, or how they seem to have this… like, instant connection from the moment they meet.” The taller man could only blink as Vinnie had a small smile on his face before he looked up at the sky. Hands resting on the back of his head as he let out a soft sigh. “It’s just awesome how people can find love like that and stay together. To know that they found the one for them ya know? To know that they found the love of their life and are able to be together without anything tearing them apart.”</p><p> </p><p>The way he’s talking… it made Balthazar think that maybe Vinnie had… “Were you ever-“</p><p> </p><p>“So what kind of books are you interested in Cavendish?” asked Vinnie, cutting the taller man off from the question that had been about to pass his lips. Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little at that. Did Vinnie know what it was that he had been about to ask? Or was he just more interested in Cavendish’s own interests of reading material?</p><p> </p><p>May as well answer though, not answering was very rude after all. “I prefer murder mysteries.” Balthazar calmly said, causing Vinnie to flinch a little. “Do you not like murder mysteries?” asked the blonde as he raised a brow at the shorter man before him.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie had lowered his arms before digging his hands into his pockets. “Well, you see it just seems depressing. Someone had lost their life and for what? Scorned lover? Angry family member? Because someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time? It just seems unfair and sometimes they don’t always catch the person that did it. There is never any true justice to any of that.” Vinnie looked away, an angry look to his expressive eyes made Balthazar blink in shock. “To read about someone’s death just seems… unrespectful to me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you saying that you are against my choice of reading material?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“No, I’m not going to force you to read something that you don’t want to read. Would you have me read something I wouldn’t want to read?” asked Vinnie as he looked up at the taller man.</p><p> </p><p>“No, it would be improper.” Balthazar calmly said before raising a brow at him. Now he was even more confused about Vinnie’s words. He was acting as if he had experienced something like this before and it just had him all the more curious to know more about the man before him. Yet, it was also obvious that Vinnie was unwilling to share his tales with him.</p><p> </p><p>Today anyway.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up, he calmly said “Well, if you do not wish to discuss book topics anymore, how about we just go inside and purchase our books and your games and head back?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes in confusion on that one. It seemed that he hadn’t expected that to say the least. Looking over he saw that they had arrived to the store and hadn’t even noticed. He must have been lost in his own world at the time, which the blonde found to be very possible. “Shall we?” asked Balthazar with a small smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure.” The shorter man nodded his head before walking into the store and started to look around. “Hard to believe this place has books and games.” He said with a chuckle. It seemed that Vinnie got some of his spark back right now, and for that the taller man was thankful, yet he just couldn’t help but still wonder what that was about. It was so odd that Vinnie could go through emotions like that.</p><p> </p><p>From dreamy expressions about tales of love.</p><p> </p><p>To anger about murder… even if it was fiction, it still caused a great deal of anger to rise within him.</p><p> </p><p>What was going on in his head right now? What could Vinnie have experienced in his life to have caused such a change of emotions within him? It just didn’t make sense to him, though he felt like that maybe he wouldn’t really get an answer to that even if he searched on his own.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie was some kind of mystery wrapped up in a box for him to unwrap yet, he had no means of knowing how he was to do that. Best way was to try to get to know him better. But at the same time, he wasn’t sure if he had a right to try to get to know Vinnie better as this was a mission. A mission to ensure his safety but at the same time he just couldn’t figure out what the danger was and once he did and secured it…</p><p> </p><p>He’d have to leave and with knowing what kind of person Vinnie really was just by getting to know him? It would hurt in the long run. He couldn’t do that, but at the same time he wanted to learn something. This was so confusing and it was as if he was in some kind of puzzle box that couldn’t be solved to redeem his freedom.</p><p> </p><p>Once they were inside the building, Balthazar had to admit it was a nice looking building. The shelves were stocked full of books, all of them sorted by the genre of course. There was even a few tables for people to be seated. Most likely if they wanted to look up on books that they would want to search through on their phone or computer. The tables looked like they were of oak to him but they looked nice.</p><p> </p><p>That was just one side of the store as well.</p><p> </p><p>Turning his gaze to the other side of the store, he saw that there were shelves full of games. Sorted by… the systems? He didn’t know how any of that worked. Yet he also saw that there were also screens that held out controllers? Similar to what Vinnie and Crystal were playing while on the bus. Balthazar couldn’t help but blink as he tried to think on the kinds of games that Vinnie and Crystal would be playing.</p><p> </p><p>It almost had him curious as to how many hours they spent with playing video games and the like. Did they do anything other than playing video games?</p><p> </p><p>Turning his gaze over to Vinnie, he saw that the man was already at the romance section. Frowning, he made his way over to the curly haired man before leaning over his shoulder. “What kind of book are you looking at?” He asked.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes at him in confusion before giving a chuckle. “It’s called Awake at Dawn. It’s part of the Shadow Fall series, it’s actually the second book for the series honestly. Crystal told me a bit about the series and it’s interesting.” Vinnie said, going on in great detail from what he had been told about the series. About a young girl who was sent to a camp because of her mother. A woman that was assumed to have been a cruel woman but actually does genuinely love her daughter.</p><p> </p><p>Then the girl discovers that she is actually only half-human, and part of the paranormal world. But doesn’t know what she is as her ‘brain pattern’ doesn’t match any of the patterns of other paranormal creatures but does as her pattern keeps shifting around. Then of course she meets a werewolf and fairy guys that both are into her.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar had to admit, that does sound rather interesting.</p><p> </p><p>Humming softly in thought, the young man blinked as he looked down at the book in Vinnie’s hand before reaching out and grabbed a hold of the book in his hand. Looking over at the cover for a brief moment before flipping it over to the back to get a better idea of the story itself. It did seem interesting enough, focused more on the adventure from what he could gather though there was bits of romance here and there.</p><p> </p><p><em>’This actually looks like a good read actually…’</em> he thought to himself before looking back over at Vinnie. The young man looked up at him with confusion and maybe he even looked nervous over the whole thing. A part of him wanted to just toss the book back at Vinnie and tell him that the series seemed stupid and that no one should read such a thing. Yet… “When you finish, may I give the book a read? It has piqued my interest.”</p><p> </p><p>The shorter man just blinked his dark eyes in shocked confusion. It seemed that the words from the blonde hadn’t been what he had been expecting. Balthazar handed the book back to Vinnie as he asked “Unless, you do not wish to share the book?”</p><p> </p><p>“No!” Vinnie shouted, only to blush before he rubbed the back of his neck. “No, it’s not that Cavendish.” He calmly said before adding “It’s just that, you seemed like you didn’t want to try to read anything I’d want to read so…”</p><p> </p><p>Oh, so it was most likely due to their conversation earlier. Vinnie not wanting to read about murder mysteries due to… something that had most likely happened in his past. Whatever it was, though he just hoped that maybe someday he <em>could</em> understand. Maybe it could be something his sister looked into. That could work for him in the long run, he hoped.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Balthazar gently placed a hand on Vinnie’s shoulder. Feeling a strange tingling sensation through his body when he did so. It was that feeling he had felt before when they first met, and it had him curious about such a feeling but for the time being, ignored it. “Dakota, you aren’t forcing me to make this choice. I am honestly curious as to what the book is about. If I don’t like it, I’ll just return the book in time. If I enjoy it, I’ll be a while.”</p><p> </p><p>The man slowly nodded his head before grinning up at Balthazar. His smile was so radiant and pure that it made the blonde’s heart skip a beat within his chest. Something that he hadn’t expected before within his chest, though he had just felt like maybe it was something that he couldn’t understand at all. Maybe he was sick or something? Another thing to look into later.</p><p> </p><p>“Sweet. But, you’ll need to read Born at Midnight first, I have that book back in my trailer.” Vinnie said with a laugh. “I’m gonna go buy this then. After that I’ll go get some games for Crystal and I. I shouldn’t be too long don’t worry about a thing!” He said with a chuckle before he started to run on toward the gaming section. Maybe he heard about how stupid his words sounded in the open. It’d make more sense to get the games and then purchase them before doing anything else.</p><p> </p><p>Chuckling a little to himself, the blonde made his way over to the murder mysteries. There was so many to choose from and it had him itching to learn more about the mysteries that people have solved or what the writers themselves could come up with for the crime itself.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over the many, many choices, Balthazar tilted his head from side to side as he picked up a book and looked at the cover. Looking it over he saw that it was about a murder that happened when his grandmother was young. Interesting. Maybe he could get this book, it looks interesting to say the least. Though, looking over the book itself, it said that it was one of the few murders in this city’s course of history that have been unsolved.</p><p> </p><p>“Interesting, bet they just didn’t have amazing hunters to investigate this like my family.” He chuckled to himself before making his way over to the counter to buy the book. He looked over at the game section and saw that Vinnie was still browsing the game selection. “I’ll have time to do some light reading before he comes over.” Balthazar calmly said before using his card to buy the book. “Thank you.” He said to the cashier as he took a seat at one of the few unoccupied tables as he opened his new book and started to read.</p><p> </p><p>As he started to go through the first chapter, Balthazar thought he heard someone moving the chair to sit next to him. He was about to greet the person, thinking it was Vinnie until a voice cut through his train of thought. “Hi, I've been undressing you with my eyes all day long, and think it's time to see if I'm right.” Balthazar looked over at the man next to him, feeling a little disgusted with that man’s phrase. He wore wire framed glasses that hid a pair of… black eyes maybe? He had short, slicked back brown hair that was lighter than Vinnie’s. He also had pale white skin that seemed almost sickly.</p><p> </p><p>His clothes, they looked like a white button down shirt that was tucked into a pair of brown slacks from what he could make out.</p><p> </p><p>He wasn’t really impressed. Turning his gaze back to the book, he had hoped that the man would take this as a hint to leave him alone.</p><p> </p><p>He did not.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, come on. Are you shy? I bet you’re shy, hey let me introduce myself I’m Shadow!”</p><p> </p><p><em>’I don’t care what name you have, and what kind of name is Shadow? Did his parents hate him?’</em> Thought Balthazar as he buried his nose deeper into the book, hoping to ignore the man. He just wanted to read his book while he waited for Vinnie to come back and they could just hurry up and leave. The guy though just kept talking, trying to get Balthazar to speak to him, even trying to get the blonde to look at him.</p><p> </p><p>What broke him was when he felt the man running a hand through Balthazar’s hair.</p><p> </p><p>Yelping in shock, he looked over at the man, slamming his book shut as he said “Do you mind?! I’m trying to read while I wait for someone.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wow…” Shadow said with shocked awe before grinning as he leaned closer to Balthazar. “You're eyes are bluer than the Atlantic Ocean and baby, I'm all lost at sea.” Before the blonde could even say anything else, he found himself being grabbed at by Shadow. His one arm was wrapped around Balthazar’s waist, his hand sliding up his hip just under his shirt. While the other was wrapped around his shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar shuddered a little from the bare hand on his skin. It sent cold chills through his body, similar to the tingling feeling that he’d feel with Vinnie’s touch or contact with the man. This guy? It just felt oh so wrong, as if a part of him wanted to scream and shout to get this man to leave him alone. Yet, his voice didn’t want to work. He struggled to get away, but, his body was almost felt frozen in place.</p><p> </p><p>Shadow grinned all the more as he said “You are a looker for sure. How is it that we haven’t met before today in your life?” Why do people keep phrasing ‘your life’ like that?! “Oh, you’re trembling. I’m hoping that’s out of excitement! You have such soft yet taunt skin! I didn’t think it was possible!”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar saw the man leaning closer to him and fear icily wrapped itself around his heart in that moment. Before he could even attempt to move, someone reached forward and wrapped an arm around Balthazar’s shoulders and wretched him out of Shadow’s arms and to their side instead. The blonde blinked his eyes in shocked confusion before he looked over and saw that it was Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie had a stern look on his face, yet it wasn’t just stern but very pissed off. To be honest, Vinnie never even looked this angry even when Balthazar first met him. This was a new level of rage that he hadn’t ever expected from the man. “Why are you touching someone when it was clear that they didn’t want to be touched?” asked Vinnie, glaring at the man before them.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, I was just having a little fun.” Shadow said with a chuckle before turning around in his chair to better face the two men.</p><p> </p><p>“It was obvious that he wasn’t enjoying you touching him.” Vinnie snarled.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked down at Vinnie in shock. He’s never seen this side of Vinnie in the short time that he’s been assigned as his bodyguard. This side of Vinnie seemed… well, a mix of protective yet also… possessive? He didn’t know but the warm tingling danced across his skin from the close contact that he had with the shorter man. It was much more inviting and comforting than when Shadow held onto him.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on, a man as attractive as him? You should know that anyone would be lucky to fuck someone like him. I’m hoping that I’d be his first-“</p><p> </p><p>Before Shadow could speak more, both Vinnie and Balthazar punched him in the face. Vinnie let out an angry snarl, gritting his teeth as he glared at the man before them. While Balthazar just looked angry before his gaze slowly turned to Vinnie. Before he could even ask him when he saw before coming over, Vinnie grabbed a hold of Balthazar’s hand and dragged him out of the store. (He was happy that he at least had enough time to grab his book)</p><p> </p><p>The owner of course was shouting something behind them but the blonde couldn’t make out the words. His focus was on the man before him, watching nearly helplessly as he was dragged out of the store toward a nearby bench. “Dakota what happened?! When did you- how did you!?” He didn’t know what to even ask, his mind was in jumbles that it seemed as if his brain had taken a trip to a tropical island.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie took a deep breath, he pushed Balthazar to sit down before joining him. The shorter man looked away from his bodyguard as if trying to think of the words carefully. It almost felt like some kind of eternity before the Italian finally broke the silence. “I had just bought my items when I turned around to see that guy grabbing a hold of you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” Really? That was all Balthazar could say?!</p><p> </p><p>“You looked uncomfortable. Terrified even, I knew I had to step in to get you out of that situation.” Vinnie whispered softly before turning his gaze over to the man beside him. Balthazar almost felt his breath hitch at the way the man’s gaze became pained. “Why didn’t you fight back Cavendish?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“I… I don’t know. My body froze, I don’t know why or can explain it. It just felt like my body just became numb.” Balthazar confessed before looking away with a soft sigh. Only to wince as he lifted his hand and frowned as he stared at his knuckles.</p><p> </p><p>It seemed that when he punched the man in the face, the glasses broke, and the glass itself had managed to break the skin. “You’re bleeding again.” Vinnie said with a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“Why do you make it sound so exhausting that I get hurt?” Spat Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie though merely chuckled before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulled out what looked like… “Is that a first aid kit?”</p><p> </p><p>“Travel sized!” Confirmed the brown haired man before he opened up the kit and pulled out some cotton balls, tweezers and disinfectant. Dabbing the cotton against the disinfectant, Vinnie grinned as he stared at the blonde next to him.  He reached out and grabbed a hold of Balthazar’s hand and started to clean up the injury after removing any stray shards of glass. The taller man couldn’t help but think about how warm Vinnie’s hand was as it held his. Soft, strong, comforting…</p><p> </p><p>His heart was thudding quickly in his chest and it confused him all the more.</p><p> </p><p>“Why were you so mad?” asked Balthazar, hoping that maybe conversation would get his heart to stop beating so quickly in his chest.</p><p> </p><p>“I hate people like that. People who think that they can get anyone they want if they just grab them and use cheesy or disgusting pick-up lines.” He shuddered a little, the blonde couldn’t help but wonder just how much Vinnie had heard. He wanted to know more about what Vinnie thought about it, but wasn’t sure if he could even bring himself to ask. Honestly, Balthazar wanted to forget about the way the man’s touch had felt upon his skin.</p><p> </p><p>Shuddering at the memory, the young man tried to get his thoughts off of it. But, Vinnie had felt the shudder and looked up at him in concern. “You okay? I didn’t hurt you did I?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, just.” Balthazar wasn’t sure how to word his concerns to the man before him. Though he wasn’t sure if he was brave enough for a change.</p><p> </p><p>“He had his hand under your shirt right? I saw that, and you shaking like a leaf.” Vinnie said before placing a hand on Balthazar’s knee. The taller man blinked as he stared up at Vinnie in shock. He had seen that?! Before he could open his mouth, Vinnie shook his head. “I know you didn’t like him touching you, moment I saw that… I saw nothing but red and knew that I had to get you away from him.” Vinnie was that mad? The brown haired man couldn’t help but grin up at the man as he added “So, I knew that I had to jump in to help ya. After all, it was the right thing to do for a friend.”</p><p> </p><p>“Friend?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, yeah? I kinda hope we’re friends even though it’s been a short time.” Vinnie whispered softly, looking away shyly.</p><p> </p><p>Could they be friends? Was it even possible to form a friendship with someone after such a short amount of time? Looking over at the man before him, the tall man couldn’t help but frown a little. To be friends with Vinnie Dakota…</p><p> </p><p>Wasn’t the worse thing he could have ever done in the world.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, we’re friends.” Balthazar confirmed.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie jumped up as he cheered. “Yes! I made a new friend!” He shouted in victory, Balthazar couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. It was cute.</p><p> </p><p>Then the crackling of thunder and flashing lights of lightning came about. Both men blinked, before pouring rain drenched them through, right down to the bone.</p><p> </p><p>“I think you cursed us in some way Dakota.” Balthazar mumbled as his bangs clung to his forehead.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh… I guess?” Vinnie replied, his curly brown hair hung over his eyes before he brushed them back. “Let’s head back to the trailer and change before you get sick.”</p><p> </p><p>“Me? What about you?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, I don’t get sick. Never have.” Was the reply before both men started to walk on back.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, the day had some ups and downs, but still… the worse was that man’s disgusting touch more so than the chill from the rain. He just hoped that that was the last of what he was feeling from that man ever again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm just gonna point out that Shadow, is a lame name for a character but, figured that it makes sense for later. I won't say what that is, but it will be explained later on. As for the tingling, it'll be explained later on as well and yeah, Shadow is a creep, what do you think it gonna happen? I'm curious as to what you all think. Also, I'm planning another story idea, or at least a couple. Some of them take place during the show as an alternate route, while the other takes place before the show starts then goes through the two guy's journey as time travelers. still thinking on the alternate routes but I have an idea for it so far.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Don't Worry, I Got You!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar got a bad cold from his and Vinnie's trip to the bookstore. He's trying to do his job but this cold is only getting worse, what is he to do when he gets so bad that he falls?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWWIUcgRLuE<br/>listen when you hit the lyrics.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar groaned a little as he managed to roll himself out of bed. To be honest, he hadn’t felt this bad a few days ago and it had only steadily been getting worse since the trip with Vinnie to get books. The man grabbing a hold of the blonde trying to get both of them out of the rain.</p><p> </p><p>His throat was scratchy, his nose was stuffed, his body felt feverish, the room was spinning on him, he felt clammy… his head even felt like it was stuffed to the brim with cotton.</p><p> </p><p>In other words, he felt like utter shit. That was something he didn’t think, or speak lightly either.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his face, the young man slowly made his way over to his dresser as he dug around for something clean to wear for today. The concert was going to take place later in the night, and he knew that he had to be ever diligent if he was going to protect Vinnie from any and all harm. The man had done so much for him just by looking out for Balthazar. Such as shoving him out of the way of an AC unit that could have killed him. Then of course the man that had grabbed at him.</p><p> </p><p>He shuddered at the reminder of that man’s touch. Times like that he cursed his sensitive skin, something that he hated with a passion, it was why he tried to avoid skin on skin contact with people… Vinnie though either hadn’t noticed the shudders from the contact or he just found it amusing much like everyone else.</p><p> </p><p>Shakily running a hand down his face, Balthazar knew that he had to focus on the task. That was to get dressed and try to act like there was nothing wrong with him. That he shouldn’t allow himself to fall victim to this cold that seemed to plague him. Breathing deeply, the young man dug around in his dresser as he pulled out a white dress shirt with a dark green waist coat and matching dark green pants.</p><p> </p><p>Grinning, he stumbled over to the bathroom to shower. Thinking that the shower would help clear his head, as well as his sinuses from this disgusting feeling that would try to claim him.</p><p> </p><p>As he was in the shower though, Balthazar had tried to keep himself standing. <em>’Maybe I should have settled on a bath instead…’ </em>Closing his eyes for a brief moment, he leaned his face against the shower wall as he sighed, the water did feel nice though on his feverish skin. Even though the shower itself was hot, it still felt rather nice.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man shakily grabbed his shampoo and conditioner as he tried to keep himself focused. Maybe if he kept his mind focused on a task, he’ll be able to keep himself from falling asleep. So, his thoughts traveled to Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Over the course of… what? A couple months of knowing him at this point? He didn’t know, at this point, his mind was lost in a fog when it came to time at this point. Either way, over that time frame he figured, that he had already grown… somewhat attached? He didn’t think it was possible, and he didn’t want it to be possible. He shouldn’t be attached to Vinnie at all. The man was loud, a snack hound, wasn’t focused on anything but video games, books, music…</p><p> </p><p>He’s saved Balthazar… twice now.</p><p> </p><p>The AC unit…</p><p> </p><p>That creepy man that was… trying to flirt with him of all people?</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a deep breath, Balthazar groaned as he leaned against the wall once again. The room was spinning on him. Why was the room spinning? Shaking his head, the young man closed his eyes as he tried to get himself to focus, trying to get the room to stop spinning on him. “Please stop…” He begged before shuddering a little.</p><p> </p><p>He tried to think back on what he was thinking about earlier. Yes, Vinnie and him, even though they were oh so very different Vinnie saw him as a friend. Tended to injuries that he would have gotten from the two saves he did. Even though the one injury was caused by the blonde punching the creep. The young man felt that flutter in his chest once again. Thinking back to that particular injury, made him see a softer side to Vinnie that he didn’t think was even there in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>While tending to his injuries, Vinnie was gentle and thorough when it came to ensuring that the cuts, scrapes were cleaned, disinfected and patched up. Even being mindful to watch for any flinches from Balthazar to see if he was hurting him.</p><p> </p><p>Once he was done rinsing out the shampoo and conditioner, the young man just… sat at the bottom of the tub. Trying to clear his thoughts as well as to keep the room from spinning on him. Maybe if he just sat here for a little while longer he could get it to stop spinning. Breathing deeply, the young man just hoped and prayed that this wouldn’t be happening all day. It was the last thing that he wanted right now, and just wanted to try to get his job over and done with for the night.</p><p> </p><p>Taking another deep breath, Balthazar pushed himself up onto his feet shakily before turning off the water and getting himself dried off before changing. Once he was out of the bathroom, he couldn’t help but lean over the sink as he let out a groan again. Looking up at the many cupboards, Balthazar wondered if he had any kind of medicine in the trailer. Normally he didn’t get sick often and thought that he had at least prepared himself for any possibility.</p><p> </p><p>Reaching up, he pulled open the cupboard and looked around for anything. Dishes, food… no medicine. <em>’I’ll have to try to buy some when I get a chance. I have to keep an eye on Dakota though…’</em> He thought to himself before rubbing a hand through his bangs with trembling fingers. “Just gotta put up a front is all. I should be fine right?” He said to himself, hoping and praying that nothing would happen.</p><p> </p><p>With that, he fixed up his shirt, rolling up the sleeves a little just below his elbows as he went toward the front door and went to make his rounds. Though, he made sure to bring some bottles of water with him to keep himself hydrated for this. Maybe if he kept himself hydrated he wouldn’t be so dizzy…</p><p> </p><p>Right?</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>After his patrol over the perimeter, Balthazar grabbed a seat that was back stage. Letting out a soft sigh, the young man rubbed at his temples. His head felt so much worse and he was sure that he was sweating right now.</p><p> </p><p>Pulling out a bottle of water, the young man guzzled it down without much thought before noticing that he had emptied it within seconds. Frowning, he sighed softly before tossing the bottle into the recycling bin. He’s gone through a lot of bottles in a mere few hours. Half a day? Time was funny for him right now.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the young man rubbed at his face, hoping that maybe the water would feel better. Even a little bit from trying to keep himself hydrated but that didn’t work. Maybe he should have gone and gotten medicine after all while he was out and about. Now he was regretting his choice. He’ll have to kick himself later on, but for now he had to keep himself focused.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, you okay?” asked a voice, causing Balthazar blinked as he looked up and saw Crystal staring down at him. She had a frown on her face as she gazed at the blonde. “You don’t look too good Cavendish.” She tilted her head at him, it was odd to see Crystal being nice to him but then again they didn’t really chat much unless she was checking on him like when he woke up from that weird dream he had.</p><p> </p><p>Though, he couldn’t let her know that he wasn’t feeling good. “I’ll be fine.” He half-lied. Thinking that maybe a half lie would be enough for him. After all, he would be eventually right? Crystal though just raised an eyebrow at him for a brief moment before shaking her head. “I’m fine, I don’t know why you’re worried about me when you don’t like me.”</p><p> </p><p>“It isn’t that I don’t like you, like I said before. I’m just trying to look out for my friend. You are worrying far too much here.” Crystal calmly said as she crossed her arms under her breasts as she stared at the man before her. “Just know, that you shouldn’t get too close to Vinnie alright? I don’t mind you being friends with him.”</p><p> </p><p>“How do you-“</p><p> </p><p>“It’s obvious. Plus, Vinnie’s been giddy for the last few days at hearing he had a new friend.” Crystal’s expression never changed from her unamused expression. The young woman closed her eyes before running a hand through her dark hair as she added “Vinnie is a fragile soul. Just know that if you hurt him, Blade and I will hurt you. There will be no amount of steel or stone that will keep us away from you till we get you back for hurting our friend.”</p><p> </p><p>That threat wasn’t empty, even he knew that much. Though he knew that he could easily take care of himself. He knew that he could easily fight two people who don’t even look like they know how to fight in the first place. Breathing deeply, Balthazar calmly answered Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>“Hurting him, is not even on my list of things to do with him. I don’t think I could bring myself to hurt him even if I didn’t like the guy as a friend.” Balthazar was honest if anything else.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine.” Crystal calmly said before starting to walk on ahead toward the set. Most likely to practice for the concert before allowing herself to be lost in the music as she hit a few notes. Blade followed Crystal to the stage before he had a glance over at the blonde man. It seemed that he was trying to find something on Balthazar’s face for a brief moment before he walked on ahead.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up at the two, he saw that Crystal and Blade were chatting among themselves. He couldn’t really hear what they were talking about, though he didn’t think he had any reason to even ask them what it was that they were talking about.</p><p> </p><p>Leaning forward, the young man buried his face against his hands as he let out a soft sigh. He felt really warm, maybe he needed another bottle of water or something? Or maybe some kind of an ice pack. Something that would help him with his fever. Running a shaky hand through his hair, he was about to push himself back up onto his feet till a bottle of water came into his view. “Huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“You look like you could use one.” Came Vinnie’s voice, causing Balthazar to blink as he looked up and blinked his eyes in shock. “You okay? You don’t look so good.”</p><p> </p><p>Did he really look bad enough where anyone could tell he didn’t feel good?</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.” Balthazar calmly said before accepting the bottle and downed it within seconds.</p><p> </p><p>“Whoa, you must have been thirsty. You okay? You look kinda pale, even paler than Crystal and that’s saying something.” Vinnie said as he sipped at his own water bottle.</p><p> </p><p>“Just a minor cold. I’ll be fine.” The blonde replied, another half-truth it seemed. He gave a small smile to Vinnie, hoping that would assure the man about how Balthazar really felt. Breathing deeply, the young man waved his hand toward Vinnie while he said “You should focus on your set, I’ll be fine don’t worry about a thing alright?” He chuckled a little, hoping that would be enough to assure Vinnie. The man had a concert to worry about, not a sick man like himself. “Just focus on your concert, not me.” Vinnie though looked like he wanted to argue for a brief moment before nodding and set his water bottle aside.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, just don’t overdo it alright?” Vinnie remarked before he started to walk on toward the stage as he picked up his guitar as he started to play a few notes. Most likely to ensure that it was tuned up before he would start to play.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar shook his head before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device. It looked like a small hand held computer, mixed with a phone that would slide out to hold a full keyboard. He typed in for the device to search for any paranormal creature that would dare to infiltrate itself into the concert hall that they would try to harm Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>He just hoped that everything would work out for Vinnie tonight.</p><p> </p><p>The concert had gone without a hitch so far. There have been no trouble thus far and for what Balthazar had been thankful. Though he just wished that there was at least something. Something that would have alerted Balthazar about any potential danger to Vinnie. Though, at the same time he was grateful for there being no harm coming to Vinnie’s person to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>But it didn’t stop him from worrying.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man looked up as he saw that the group had finished another song and were getting ready to finish up for the night. Vinnie of course had a big grin on his face, feeling all of the energy that was seeming to flow through the large crowd. This was what Vinnie lived for, to make people happy with his music. It didn’t matter to the Italian that he was in danger, he was doing this to make people happy.</p><p> </p><p>Something that even he could appreciate to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down at the screen once again, he had hoped that he would have been able to find something that would have tried to harm Vinnie. Letting out a soft sigh, the young man leaned against the wall as the music started up. Looking up, he wondered what kind of song it would be that would end the concert this time around. The last song he had encountered, made Balthazar think of a love that Vinnie had once, and lost in some way.</p><p> </p><p>What would this song reveal?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Forgive me now cause I</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Have been unfaithful</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Don't ask me why cause I don't know</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Huh? Has Vinnie ever been unfaithful to someone? That didn’t seem likely, Vinnie seemed like an honest man to him. Sure, he would speak things that made no sense to him, such as the times he would have said that they’ve never ‘met before in his life’ but, he still didn’t get what that meant in the first place. Yet, either way the pain was there. Some part of Vinnie had felt like he had been unfaith full to some kind of romantic partner.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>So many times I've tried</em>
  <br/>
  <em>But was unable</em>
  <br/>
  <em>But this heart belongs to you alone</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie lowered his gaze, as if he was ashamed over what he had felt. Though, if what Vinnie had felt was true, even for a moment there was someone he loved, and his heart still belonged to that someone. Whoever that was. So, why was Crystal so worried about anything? There was no way that there could have been anything other than friendship between the two men anyway. Plus, Vinnie wasn’t his type when it came to romantic partners to say the least. Setting the device back into his pocket, setting it to vibrate to alert him should there be any signs of danger that would dare try to harm Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Now I'm in our secret place</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Alone in your embrace</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Where all my wrongs have been erased</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You have forgiven</em>
  <br/>
  <em>All the promises and lies</em>
  <br/>
  <em>All the times I compromise</em>
  <br/>
  <em>All the times you were denied</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You have forgiven</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Lifting his head, Vinnie stared at the crowd, many of them would clap now and again. As if they were in some kind of spell that would make them too afraid to even attempt a louder clap or even a cheer. As if they were afraid to even allow themselves to fully enjoy this song as Vinnie sang his heart once again. Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little. His heart thudded painfully within his chest at the idea of Vinnie going through any kind of emotional pain. Pain that he didn’t think that he could ever truly understand. Not even in a thousand years, he couldn’t ever… ever hope to understand.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Forgive me I'm ashamed</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I've loved another</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I can't explain cause I don't know</em>
  <br/>
  <em>No one can take your place</em>
  <br/>
  <em>And there is no other</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Forever yours and yours alone</em>
</p><p> </p><p>His gaze lowered once again. Balthazar wanted to reach out for Vinnie, this overwhelming feeling would wash over him now and again. Making him wonder what it was that was that was coming over him right now. He didn’t think that these feelings that were coursing through him could have been his but… they were? The young man couldn’t really fathom what it was that his mind was trying to tell him. Maybe it was the cold messing with his head right now. After all, he still felt terrible.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Now I'm in our secret place</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Alone in your embrace</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Where all my wrongs have been erased</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You have forgiven</em>
  <br/>
  <em>All the promises and lies</em>
  <br/>
  <em>All the times I compromise</em>
  <br/>
  <em>All the times you were denied</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You have forgiven</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie had his eyes closed once again. The flow of the music, it was so powerful that Balthazar almost swore that he could feel the warm tingling dancing across his skin once again. He couldn’t help but shudder at the sensation that would overwhelm him to the point that he almost thought that he would topple over from shock alone. Breathing deeply, the young man knew that he had to keep himself collected. This was only a song, nothing could be that powerful right? Letting out a deep breath, Balthazar leaned against the wall as he just settled for listening to Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ohhh whoa, whoa</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Ohhh whoa, whoa, whoa</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Ohhh whoa, whoa</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Ohhh whoa yeah, yeah!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Throwing his head back, his voice nearly echoing through the hall. Balthazar couldn’t help but give a small smile to the man. If there was anything that Vinnie could do, it was throwing his voice around a room. Allowing it to echo, and settle among your soul so to speak. This was music from his soul itself and it made the young man wonder how anyone could even have this much emotion within themselves. Even people from his own school, talented as they were, were nowhere near the talent with emotions when it came to matters of the heart.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I get down on my knees</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Feel your love wash over me</em>
  <br/>
  <em>There will never be another</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You’re the only one forever</em>
  <br/>
  <em>And you know…</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I’m yours alone!!!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Soon, Vinnie was on his knees, leaning himself back as if he was asking for some kind of forgiveness. A forgiveness for being unfaithful to his lover. Asking them to please give him another chance over something that he had no control over. Something that couldn’t have been stopped no matter how hard he tried in the past. Just wanting to feel that person’s love washing over him once again yet at the same time a fear almost seemed as if they were never going to forgive him for some kind of emotional crime that only Vinnie himself could ever know. Yet…</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar wanted to know, he wanted to understand. <em>’What is wrong with me?’</em> He thought to himself before shaking his head, only to regret it as the room started to spin again. Blast it all, he had thought that he was over the dizziness now.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Now I'm in our secret place</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Alone in your embrace</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Where all my wrongs have been erased</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You have forgiven</em>
  <br/>
  <em>All the promises and lies</em>
  <br/>
  <em>All the times I compromise</em>
  <br/>
  <em>All the times you were denied</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You have forgiven</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie rose back onto his feet as he let out a deep sigh. His emotions now bare to the world, yet it still seemed as if no one could still understand. Yet, Balthazar saw the concerned looks on Blade’s and Crystal’s faces. Maybe they knew the pain that he was going through. Then again, how long have they known each other in the first place? There were so many possibilities that he wasn’t sure if he could figure out.</p><p> </p><p>There was also no way he would ever allow himself to even ask them because of obvious reasons. They would never tell him as he was still the ‘new guy’ that Vinnie seemed interested in. Even if it was something as small as forming a friendship with the man. Either way, he just hoped that there was something that he could understand on his own, but… maybe he’d never understand.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ohhh whoa, whoa</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Ohhh whoa, whoa, whoa</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Ohhh whoa, whoa</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Leaning close to the microphone, Vinnie opened his eyes for a brief moment before he let out a soft and nearly exhausted sigh. The young man closed his eyes for another brief moment before lowering his head as he stared at the floor. The blonde rubbed at his forehead, the room was starting to spin once again. No, he wasn’t going to faint, he wasn’t going to worry Vinnie with him being sick due to the walk back in the rain they had.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>You have forgiven</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Forgiven</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Forgiven</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Forgiven</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Forgiven</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Forgiven</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Forgiven</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Forgiven</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Once the song was done, Vinnie thanked everyone for coming to his show and hoped that they all enjoyed themselves and had a fantastic night. Balthazar couldn’t help but smile a little at that. He always thanked people when they came to his shows. At first he had wondered if it had just been faked when first meeting Vinnie. Now? He knew that it was genuine.</p><p> </p><p>So, he admits to being wrong.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal and Blade chatted among themselves as they started to walk off of the stage toward the back. Most likely to get a drink of water or something to snack on from the refreshments table they get set up near the end of the show. Just so the band could have something to eat after working so hard.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie of course, made his way over toward Balthazar with a big smile on his face. “So, what did you think of the show?” he asked.</p><p> </p><p>Smile was still as radiant as ever.</p><p> </p><p>“It was fantastic as usual.” Balthazar answered, his smile was also genuine though not anywhere near as bright as the man before him.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just smiled all the more and started to chat to the taller man before him. Honestly, the blonde couldn’t help but smile at Vinnie as they tried to make their way toward the refreshment table. Though, Balthazar felt the spinning was getting worse and worse. His walking slowed down and was stumbling a little as he walked. Even getting to the point that he held his head as he leaned against the wall, a groan escaping him.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, you okay?” came Vinnie’s voice, Balthazar blinked his eyes slowly as he looked over at the Italian man for a brief moment. Why were there four of Vinnie right now? Why were they all spinning around in his vision? “Whoa, you just lost a lot of colour.” Vinnie said in shock.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar tried to speak, but the only thing that came out of him was the groan as his head felt like it was going to split open from the headache he had right now. A soft hand was placed upon the blonde’s shoulder, causing him to blink slowly as he stared at Vinnie in confusion. “Hey, how about we get you back to your trailer? You look worse than you did before the show started.” He said with concern.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes in confusion, the young man tried to think about the shorter man’s words. Yet it almost seemed as if the words had merely passed right through him in that moment. Moving himself from the wall, Balthazar went to speak only for his legs to give out. “Whoa!” Vinnie exclaimed as he quickly wrapped his arms around Balthazar and held onto him. “Whoa there! I got you Cavendish, don’t worry I got you!”</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t answer, the last thing he could recall was the tingling that spread through his body as Vinnie held him.</p><p> </p><p>After that, the world went dark.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>for those who do read this, updates may be a little slow since I got more hours at my job now, I'm just posting this early because I thought it was cute that Balthazar fainted and Vinnie caught him. Also be on the lookout for a oneshot I'm gonna write, it'll be my version of what happened with the guys first seeing their partner died and how they fixed it. I don't know when I'll write it but it could be this weekend or next week or what have you, anyway I hope you like this chapter. Oh and here is a link to the song, I won't lie the original song is a bit longer from the video I based it from but I like this video more of the song because its for Dakota/Cavendish and Doof/Perry XD</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Dreams and Feelings?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vinnie looks after Balthazar but, it seems that the shorter man is acting strange when it comes to the conversation to Balthazar's dreams as well as the blonde's discovery with Vinnie's eyes.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9W2GktL-SA<br/>song used in this chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vinnie couldn’t help but blink in shock as he held onto an unconsciousness Balthazar. It was one thing to catch a fan that would ‘faint’ into his arms trying to be dramatic so they could have some kind of enjoyment to be held by their idol or something but this? This was something that Vinnie hadn’t expected. Damn, this was not what he had in mind to wrap up his night.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Cavendish?” He got no answer.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, he shifted his hold on the taller man so the blonde was held up from Vinnie’s arm wrapped around his shoulders. His head resting on Vinnie’s shoulder as he seemed to be sleeping. Almost peacefully, though he knew that something else was up here.</p><p> </p><p>Reaching up, he placed his hand on Balthazar’s forehead and nearly whipped his hand back. “Holy shit, he’s burning up.” He hissed before using his free hand to hook under the blonde’s knees to carry him bridal style. Balthazar mumbled a little under his breath but Vinnie couldn’t make out the words that Balthazar would be speaking as it was mostly just a mumbled mess that prevented him from even understanding him.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened?” asked Crystal as she and Blade made their way over to their friend.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish and I were just talking and he passed out. He has a pretty bad fever though.” Vinnie replied.</p><p> </p><p>“Had a feeling he was sick. He looked worse off than that time-“</p><p> </p><p>“Blade please don’t bring it up.” Vinnie shot a glare at the dark haired man before him.</p><p> </p><p>Blade held up his hands, as if saying ‘Okay, okay I won’t say more, don’t kill me’ or something along those lines. The man though crossed his arms as he stared at Vinnie and the unconscious bodyguard in the singer’s arms. “I didn’t think he’d last as long as he had. I saw him walking around and wobbling about. He didn’t look good then and sure as hell didn’t seem good now Vincent.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie frowned as he looked down at Balthazar once again. He’s been like this all day? Trying hard to keep doing his job even if it meant making himself worse? Shaking his head, Vinnie calmly said “I’m gonna take him back to his trailer.” Then he added “Can one of you two pick up some medicine? I don’t know if I can leave him alone-“</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie…” Crystal cut in with concern lacing her voice. The shorter man blinked his eyes as he looked over at the woman in front of him. “Don’t get yourself too attached. Remember what happened before? You know what will happen if you allow yourself to be so attached-“</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not getting attached.” Vinnie cut in, his eyes narrowed for a moment before his gaze softening. “He’s Cavendish, what can you do? Can’t really hate the man, he’s funny.” He had a big grin on his face before he started to walk out of the stage and managed to make his way toward the trailers.</p><p> </p><p>During the entire walk though, Balthazar didn’t even wake up once. Or even show any signs that he was aware of being carried. It made Vinnie curious as to what Balthazar was even seeing in his dreams. “Mmm pretty music.” Balthazar mumbled in his sleep. Causing Vinnie to frown a little as he looked down at the man in his arms. Was Balthazar dreaming about the concert? It had him curious about the dreams that he was having but right now, he had to get the blonde comfortable.</p><p> </p><p>Upon entering the trailer, the shorter man carefully set Balthazar on his bed and placed a hand on his forehead once again. The fever didn’t get worse, but didn’t get better either. Sighing softly, he reached over as he said “Don’t get upset with me Cav, but this is to ensure that you don’t overheat here and hoping to cool you down.” With that said, Vinnie started to unbutton Balthazar’s waist coat as well as his white button down shirt and carefully slid it out from under the sleeping man.</p><p> </p><p>As for the pants… that may be going too far. Though he did have another idea at the very least. Carefully, he reached down to the pant legs and rolled them up to make them look more like shorts. After that Vinnie removed the sleeping man’s shoes and socks. That should be enough to keep him cool at the very least. “You play so well…” Mumbled Balthazar, causing Vinnie to look over at the sleeping man. He rolled his head over to the side, a small smile gracing his lips.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie couldn’t help but blush a little before looking away before pushing himself up and made his way to the kitchen. “Okay, now to help get your fever down while we wait for Crystal and Blade to come back with some medicine for ya.” He mumbled before grabbing a cloth and soaking it in ice cold water. Thinking it would due until he could get some ice packs set up since he wasn’t sure if Balthazar even had any in his freezer.</p><p> </p><p>Approaching Balthazar once again, he carefully set the now damp but cold cloth on the sleeping man’s forehead.</p><p> </p><p>No movement, seemed that he was still exhausted from working so hard. Leaning forward, elbow resting on the bed as his chin rested on his palm. Vinnie wondered what he could do while he waited for Balthazar to wake up. It was so weird to see him asleep instead of up and moving about to ensure his safety.</p><p> </p><p>Though to see the man this sick? Vinnie couldn’t help but frown in concern as he said “I don’t know what you were thinking Cav, but to work yourself till you got this bad? What the hell were you thinking man…?” He whispered the last part to himself before rubbing at his forehead. It nearly broke his heart to have not noticed this in the first place. Sure, he’s noticed that Balthazar looked in rough shape since their trip from the store a few days ago, but to have pretty much ignored his health?</p><p> </p><p>That just made him sick to his stomach. Which only made him feel all the worse for it. “When you wake up, I’m gonna look after you till you’re well enough to walk on your own and not fall over from passing out again.” He then smiled a little as he added “Ya know, because you were so sick that you fainted.” His smile slowly faded from his face before he let out a soft sigh. “Not funny without a reaction coming from you.” Vinnie muttered before looking over at the clock on the wall. Wondering how long it’d be before the sleeping man woke up.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>Balthazar found himself being dragged through a long hallway. He knew that he’s never seen this hallway before but at the same time he did. It was so baffling, but he couldn’t help but stare at the many pictures that lined the walls. All of them, wearing clothes from maybe a few hundred in the past perhaps? He couldn’t be sure but he had also felt like he had seen these paintings before.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“So, how long will it be till your family returns?” asked a voice, the voice was male for sure. When Balthazar looked up, he could only see the back of the man that dragged him through the hall. “I know that you don’t want them to see me here, but I just have to share this song for you!”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I just wished that you had your own instruments.” Balthazar found himself mumbling yet, the warmth in his cheeks told him that he was blushing for some reason.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>A chuckle reached his ears, even bouncing off of the halls of his family home. Honestly, Balthazar almost felt like a child with the way he was feeling so giddy at the idea of him sneaking a man into his home. Even if it was something as simple as playing a song that the man before him had manage to create. Yet at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel rather curious at the idea of the kind of song that the man before him had written.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Yet, at the same time this man made him feel more alive than he’s ever felt before in his entire life. A feeling that he never wanted to lose, a sensation that he always wanted to feel. Even now, all he could feel was the warm tingling across his skin while the man dragged him into the music room. “So, how good are you at playing a piano?” asked the man as he dropped Balthazar’s wrist.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I’d say I have the proper talent. Why do you ask?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>The man rubbed at the back of his neck, turning to him yet his face was for the most part hidden by the light that reflected off of his glasses. Yet, his smile was just as radiant as the light that would shine through. “Well, I made some sheet music. I figured this was something we could do together, you just won’t know the lyrics.” The man spoke before reaching into his jacket and pulled out some sheet music that Balthazar couldn’t help but tilt his head as he carefully took from the man’s hands and looked over.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>No lyrics, like he said.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Figured this could be a gift from me to you. I mean, I know you are helping me with it but, the lyrics itself will be my gift to you.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Balthazar felt his heart thud quickly within his chest. How could this man have such an effect on him after only knowing him for such a short time? Barely even a year and he had already grown to care about this man, and vice versa. It was amazing actually, but he also couldn’t help but appreciate all that the man does for him either way.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Alright, so what do you plan to do then? Just sing or…?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I plan to play the violin. Figured it’d be nice to do a duet, not just singing. Music is powerful yes, but I thought it’d be more powerful if… we both play. It’d just be me doing the singing though. Cause, you know, I know the lyrics and this is a gift for you-“</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I get it.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>The man before him could only chuckle before he looked around the room and picked up the violin. Turning to Balthazar, smile still in place yet, the rest of his face was hidden from him. Why was that? It just didn’t make sense to him but for the time being Balthazar just chuckled before making his way to the piano as he checked to make sure that it was in tune.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>It was.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m ready when you are my dear.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m just about ready to go, just wanting to make sure that this isn’t going to break on me.” A few notes was played on the violin, the young man’s heart thudded quickly within his chest. Yet, it was happy, content and filled with a love that he knew shouldn’t have been possible. Yes, he knew that it was wrong to love another of the same sex, but… he couldn’t help himself.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>He loved this man.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>And he loved Balthazar.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Go ahead Balthazar, you start first then I join in.” The man said with a chuckle.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>The young man just chuckled before he turned to face the ivory and ebony keys of the piano as he happily started to play at the keys. The other man soon joined in the song not long after before they both played in perfect harmony. Two hearts intertwined into one.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Every night in my dreams<br/></em>
  <em>I see you, I feel you<br/></em>
  <em>That is how I know you go on</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>He had such a beautiful singing voice. He felt like the man could be a famous performer someday. Something that he felt like could happen if he had only applied himself to such a thing. Turning his gaze for a brief moment, he saw that the man was still facing him, yet his eyes… he knew that they were closed as he sang.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Far across the distance<br/></em>
  <em>And spaces between us<br/></em>
  <em>You have come to show you go on</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>The energy, it was something that he had noticed to feel when around this man. Energy that would lick and tingle at his skin when they were close or when Balthazar was being held. It was something that had baffled him but the warmth… the energy that he would feel was nothing but warmth and filled with a love that was impossible for a normal person to feel yet he felt it from this man. An adoration to say the least.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Near, far, wherever you are<br/></em>
  <em>I believe that the heart does go on<br/></em>
  <em>Once more you open the door<br/></em>
  <em>And you're here in my heart<br/></em>
  <em>And my heart will go on and on</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>He could faintly make out the man stepping toward Balthazar, taking a step back before spinning on his heel and sat down on the bench next to him. Staying close, yet still far enough so the violin wand wouldn’t hit him in the head or, well just not hit him in general. To be this close, he wanted to lay his head on the man’s shoulder to enjoy the warmth. Yet, Balthazar knew that he had to keep his focus on the piano till the song was done.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Love can touch us one time<br/></em>
  <em>And last for a lifetime<br/></em>
  <em>And never let go 'til we're gone</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Balthazar felt his heart hammering within his chest. It was a feeling that he had grown accustomed to during the course of nearly a year. Wanting to be as close to this man who had come crashing into his life without meaning too. Literally. Having crashed through a window in the bakery that Balthazar was in to purchase some snacks for himself only for the window to be smashed into. At first he had thought the man to be nothing more than a bother who picked fights. Now? Far from such a thing.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>He knew that it was destiny, something that he had never thought to be true but a fantasy. Now? He knew that destiny was possible.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Love was when I loved you<br/></em>
  <em>One true time I hold to<br/></em>
  <em>In my life we'll always go on</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Balthazar found that his lover was gazing at him with a soft yet gentle smile. He found himself smiling in return before turning his attention back to the piano. Feeling the flow of energy coursing through his entire body. Something that he had only known to come from him. Energy that was something that only that his lover could produce, something of course, that he wasn’t sure how to be possible but he wasn’t going to complain about such a thing in the first place.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Near, far, wherever you are<br/></em>
  <em>I believe that the heart does go on<br/></em>
  <em>Once more you open the door<br/></em>
  <em>And you're here in my heart<br/></em>
  <em>And my heart will go on and on</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Pulling himself back for a brief moment, only to bring himself back closer to Balthazar, the other man then placed his head upon Balthazar’s shoulder, a content smile gracing his lips once again. There was that warmth once again. Something that he never wanted to lose. Something that he knew that he would always treasure for the rest of his life. A feeling that Balthazar was something that only he himself could ever feel when it came to this man.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>You're here, there's nothing I fear<br/></em>
  <em>And I know that my heart will go on<br/></em>
  <em>We'll stay forever this way<br/></em>
  <em>You are safe in my heart<br/></em>
  <em>And my heart will go on and on</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Because this was a love that he knew would never die. No matter what may come their way, a love this strong could transcend time itself. He was sure of it, and nothing would ever change that. A soft yet gentle smile graced Balthazar’s lips as he looked over at his lover as the song came to an end. Before he could even speak, the young man felt a warm hand cupping itself behind his head, turning Balthazar toward the other man as he found himself pulled into the sweet warmth of a soft and gentle-</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Groaning, Balthazar slowly opened his eyes. His head still felt like it was stuffed with cotton but not as bad as before. Blinking slowly, he tried to push himself to sit up on his bed till he felt something gently pushing against his shoulder. That familiar warm tingling danced around his skin as he looked over and blinked as he stared at Vinnie who sat next to his bed.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?” He whispered softly, unsure if he was somehow still dreaming or not.</p><p> </p><p>“Stay in bed Cav. You fainted after the concert so I carried you here.” Wait, Vinnie carried him? How strong was this man? Sure he knew that he was thin as a rail with a few muscles here and there. Nothing impressive to say the least, but still it baffled him that Vinnie could lift him at all. When the blonde didn’t respond, Vinnie rubbed the back of his neck. “You kind of worried me man. You had such a bad fever that I almost thought I’d burn myself if I kept my hand on your forehead.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes in shock. So, he fainted and Vinnie had carried him back to the trailer? Then what? Did he just come by to check up on him? Before he could even ask, he noticed something else. Looking down, he saw that he was… shirtless.</p><p> </p><p>Yelping out in shock, the blonde shot up in bed, ignoring Vinnie’s concerned voice didn’t seem to cut through him. Balthazar, not thinking of anything lifted the blanket and sighed in relief seeing that he still had pants on. Though, he noticed that his pant legs were pulled up just a bit above his knees.</p><p> </p><p>Gripping at his head, he moaned before falling back onto the pillow.</p><p> </p><p>“You shouldn’t have done that Cav! You’re still sick as hell!”</p><p> </p><p>“Well I’m sorry that I panicked because I’m shirtless!” shouted Balthazar before gripping his head. Okay, raised voices makes his head feel worse.</p><p> </p><p>“I only took those off to get you to cool off till Blade and Crystal came back with some medicine!” Vinnie countered before leaning back in his seat and crossed his arms.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait what?” The blonde said with a frown on his face. Vinnie didn’t leave to get the medicine? Did that mean… “Did you stay here with me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, yeah. I couldn’t leave you alone to make yourself feel worse. What if next time you fainted you fell on the cement! Or something falls on you? I wouldn’t have been around to get you out of the way or catch you.” Vinnie said with a chuckle before rubbing the back of his head and looked at Balthazar for a moment before he reached forward and grabbed the cloth that had once rested on his forehead. “Hm, its dry now.” Vinnie mumbled before placing a hand on his forehead. “You’ve cooled down a little but not much. Think you can handle some cough medicine? It should help with the fever.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes.” Balthazar replied.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, the shorter man pushed himself up from the chair and made his way over to the kitchen. Leaving Balthazar alone with his thoughts for the time being.</p><p> </p><p>This was so strange. The last person to care about him while he was sick was his sister. With their parents being hunters, they were gone most of the time. So that had left him to look after his sister, and when he was sick she was the one to look after him. It was kind of nice actually to have someone else care about him for a change. It was rare, but nice.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ring</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, Balthazar turned his head as he reached over to the nightstand. How did his phone get there? He was sure that it was in his tail coat pocket before. Maybe Vinnie set it there while he was sleeping.</p><p> </p><p>Carefully, he lifted the phone as he looked at the caller ID. It was his sister. Accepting the call, he placed his phone to his ear. “Hello Zoey.” He whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p><em>”Balthy? You okay? You don’t sound good.”</em> Zoey asked with concern.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, just have a bad cold.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Who’s looking after you?! You can’t even look after yourself when you’re sick!”</em> His sister said in shocked horror. He couldn’t have been that bad could he? Sure he knew he fainted but still, not like he had wandered off right? <em>”Remember last time? You were hallucinating for days before!”</em></p><p> </p><p>“I do not recall such a thing Zoey. I was sick and confined to bed if I do recall correctly.” Balthazar muttered softly into his phone. Nearly wanting to pull his phone away from his ear from the pain of his sister’s near shouting at him. “Also, please reframe from yelling, my head is pounding right now.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Sorry.”</em> His sister said before letting out a soft sigh. <em>”I can’t help but worry Balthy. Whenever you were sick you would mumble things in your sleep about things that didn’t really make sense to people.”</em></p><p> </p><p>“Such as?”</p><p> </p><p><em>”I don’t remember everything but you’d mumble about music that no one’s heard before. Events that no one can recall and people who no one knew about. It was like you had some kind of weird dream imaginary friend or lover or something.”</em> Zoey said, which made Balthazar frown a little at that. He didn’t remember any of that, but it made him think of his dream.</p><p> </p><p>That he remembered, he recalled the dream and the song… the touch that the man in his dream would give… him? The person he was in the dream? Whatever he wanted to call it or think of it as, he could recall the dream almost perfectly. As if it was a pure memory itself. It was strange, but he felt like it was something that he should look into. “Zoey, if I was mumbling names in my sleep why don’t you look it up or something?” He laughed a little at that, thinking it sounded rather silly that even if she could find anything that it would be impossible.</p><p> </p><p><em>”I will, the names I can still remember without a problem!”</em> His sister did have a strange memory for sure. Though he wasn’t sure if she could even do anything of the sort anyway. If anything, the names meant nothing to anyone and there would be no record of such a thing in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the young man calmly said “I wasn’t being serious. If anything you’ll find nothing, so there isn’t a reason to even bother trying to search anything up in the first place.” There was no way that his sister could find anything on well, anyone. They were people of fiction he was sure, so there was no way that she could ever find people of fiction or even facts for that matter.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man rubbed at his eyes, noticing his glasses were gone as well. Vinnie must have removed them after returning to the trailer with him. “Anyway, I should let you go Zoey… I just want to rest for the time being.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Alright, I’ll call you later then. I’m hoping you feel better Balthy, love you.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Love you too, bye Zoey.” Balthazar said before hanging up.</p><p> </p><p>It was in that moment that Vinnie walked into the room. Balthazar blinked as he looked over at the shorter man before chuckling. “I didn’t want to interrupt your phone call. How is your sister?”</p><p> </p><p>“She’s fine, though worried when I get sick. I guess I sometimes talk in my sleep and have rather strange dreams.” Balthazar said with a shrug before looking over and saw that Vinnie was holding a bottle of medicine and a small little plastic cup that came with the bottle. “Oh good, got the one that doesn’t taste as bad.” He hated the nasty tasting medicine, he refused due to the terrible taste, sometimes makes him want to vomit.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie nodded his head as he made his way over to the blonde’s bedside and unscrewed the cap before Balthazar shook his head. “I got it.” He pushed himself to sit up in bed but Vinnie pulled the bottle away. “What is it?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re trembling Cavendish. The moment I hand it to you, you’re most likely going to have it spill on you and I’m pretty sure you can’t stand up long enough to shower.” Vinnie pointed out. Balthazar though glared at him. Did Vinnie think he was unable to care for himself?! He was awake now, and can easily take care of himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, then try this first.” Vinnie said before holding up a glass of water that had been left aside on the table. “Try drinking this first. If you don’t spill it, then I’ll let you take the medicine yourself. If you spill it, then you have to let me give it to you. Deal?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar narrowed his eyes at that. It almost felt like Vinnie was treating him like a child right now. That just made him want to slap the glass out of the man’s hands for even suggesting such a thing in the first place! Just as he was about to retort, voicing his complaints the serious look Vinnie gave him made him shut up. The look on his face, rare as it was, made Balthazar want to cower a little in worry. “Just try it already Cavendish, if you can hold this without spilling anything then there is nothing to worry about right?”</p><p> </p><p>It was a challenge. He knew that much, and he would accept this challenge!</p><p> </p><p>“Just give me the blasted glass.” The blonde said as he held out his slightly trembling hand. Trying to force his own appendage to steady itself before accepting the glass. The glass was rather cool to the touch, it made his warm hand feel the chill though he wasn’t sure if that was due to the fever or just the water itself being cold.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up at the brown haired man next to his bed, he saw that Vinnie had a smile on his face. As if he was finding the whole thing to be funny. Though he made no vocal attempts to show he was enjoying it. Yet it was that darn twinkling in his eyes that said otherwise.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man brought the glass closer to his lips to take a sip.</p><p> </p><p>Only for his trembling hands to spill the contents over his chest.</p><p> </p><p>“Blast it all!” He cursed to himself, using his free hand to wipe away the water that had spilled onto his warm skin.</p><p> </p><p>“Hate to say I told you so, but… ah who am I kidding I love saying it! Told you so Cav.” Vinnie said with a grin before leaning closer as if he had won. Oh, he won this battle but not the war that was for sure. “Now, take your medicine and lay back down. I’ll grab you something to eat alright?”</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t need to take care of me. I’m a grown man.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, a grown man that made himself worse by working. Ya know, because you were sick? Working your fever to the point that you fainted. In my arms. Because you were sick-“</p><p> </p><p>“I get it.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just grinned all the more and leaned over and held the little plastic cup of medicine for Balthazar and brought it to his lips. “Open up now.” Rolling his eyes, the blonde complied as he felt the medicine slid down his throat. It still had a bit of a nasty taste to it, but it was tolerable. Breathing deeply, Balthazar laid back down on the bed and looked over at the man next to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, see? Was that so bad?” Vinnie said with a big grin on his face before making his way out of the bedroom. “Oh, what are you hungry for anyway?”</p><p> </p><p>Honestly? He didn’t really seem that hungry but he knew that he hadn’t really had much to eat before he fainted. “Something light.” Was all he could say.</p><p> </p><p>“How about some sandwiches and fruit?” Vinnie suggested.</p><p> </p><p>That… sounded good actually.</p><p> </p><p>“Wanna eat in the living room or your bed? It’s up to you but just know that I’ll be carrying you to the living room if that’s the case.” Honestly, he’d rather not deal with crumbs in his best. But at the same time, he also didn’t want to be lifted and carried around like some sort of damsel in distress. He was a man darnnit! And he wouldn’t allow himself to be seen as such!</p><p> </p><p>“I can walk-“</p><p> </p><p>“Do you really want me to have another I told you so moment?” Vinnie blandly said before rolling his own eyes. “Because I’ll give you another ‘I told you so moment’. Man, you are a stubborn man.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not stubborn.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, you’re both stubborn and prideful I guess.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar bristled at that one.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, Vinnie helped the blonde up onto his feet, had Balthazar’s arm around the shorter man’s shoulders before wrapping his own arm around the taller man’s waist. “Come on.” He walked with his bodyguard to the living room before getting him to the couch and started to make his way to the kitchen. Which, wasn’t really all that much further away.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yeah, you were talking in your sleep.” Vinnie called out, causing Balthazar to groan.</p><p> </p><p>“Fantastic, what was I saying this time?”</p><p> </p><p>“This time?”</p><p> </p><p>“My sister has pointed out that whenever I become ill, I tend to speak while asleep. I’d say names of people no one in my family knew of. Places, foods that I can’t have due to allergies or don’t like…” He let out a soft sigh while rubbing at his forehead. “I won’t lie, I don’t really remember those dreams but I think they’re starting to surface for me again since I was having one the other day and before you woke me up. Odd that I remember that one though.” Balthazar explained.</p><p> </p><p>“You didn’t say names.” Vinnie pointed out, causing the blonde to look up in confusion. Just as he was about to speak, Vinnie kept going. “You were talking about a pretty song at first. I thought maybe you were talking about the concert.” Okay, that could be possible since the song was nice that Vinnie sang. That much was for sure though he had no idea where this was even going in the first place. “There was one song that you were humming to at first only to sing the lyrics.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hm? Oh in the dream I was in a music hall of some kind. Think it belonged to some kind of rich family, I was also being dragged by someone.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie flinched a little. Odd. Maybe he thought that Balthazar was being dragged to his doom in the dream or something. So he decided to keep going. Maybe it would make him feel better about these weird dreams? Though he wasn’t going to talk about the first dream he had since being here. “Said he had a gift for me, had me play on the piano and he played the violin. I must say though, he was rather impressive when it came to how he played. It almost felt like it was the music of his soul.”</p><p> </p><p>The Italian didn’t speak.</p><p> </p><p>“He didn’t share the lyrics with me in the dream though but it made me happy in the dream. To be honest, I don’t know why but, in the dream I had felt a tremendous amount of love which was rather odd since I don’t know who that man is. Couldn’t even see his face.” He let out a weak laugh before rubbing at his face. To be honest, that song itself, was the same song that he had been humming in the first dream. He was dreaming about being that same person before he drowned.</p><p> </p><p>Shuddering a little at the reminder of that dream, he looked over at Vinnie and wondered why the man seemed so quiet. That wasn’t normal, Vinnie was normally only quiet when he was playing video games or reading. To see him quiet all of a sudden with nothing to distract him, that had Balthazar concerned. Pushing himself up, ignoring the dizziness that was hitting him the moment he pushed himself onto his feet, Balthazar started to make his way toward the shorter man.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota are you- Whoa!”</p><p> </p><p>The shorter man turned around in that moment as a cry of “Oh shit” hit both of their ears as well as the sound of something crashing onto the floor. Thankfully, nothing smashed but there was a slight groan of pain.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar groaned, having falling onto something soft at least though he couldn’t help but wonder where this soft object even came from. It was also pretty warm all things considering. “Yo, Cav can you get off? Or roll off of me?”</p><p> </p><p>That seemed to have caused the man to snap his eyes open as he pushed himself up onto his elbows and blushed like mad as he saw just how close he was to Vinnie in that moment. Even the Italian’s face was a bright red while the two of them just got lost in each other’s eyes. Yet, the fall had tilted Vinnie’s glasses a bit, allowing him to see something that he hadn’t ever thought of.</p><p> </p><p>“Blue?”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Vinnie questioned.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t have dark eyes?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ah!” Vinnie acted quickly and adjusted his glasses till they were perched properly upon his face and looked away. Okay, that reaction was odd, even for the man before him. Narrowing his eyes, Balthazar forced Vinnie to stare at him and went to pull his glasses off of his face.</p><p> </p><p>Only for the shorter man to quickly grab a hold of the blonde’s wrist, stopping him in his tracks. Only Vinnie’s left eye was revealed to him, showing the deepest of blues that made the blonde think of the ocean. The sky perhaps? A mix of both even. “Don’t… please.” Vinnie pleaded.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you have a light sensitivity?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, I just… don’t like people seeing my eyes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why?” asked Balthazar, releasing his hold over the man’s glasses. Instead settling to lean closer to get a better look. It made him wonder if it was possible… he had sworn that Vinnie had dark eyes but upon closer inspection of how the shades tinted his eyes… “Wait.” The shorter man flinched, did he think that the blonde was going to hurt him? “Do you happen to have heterochromia?”</p><p> </p><p>“I do.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is that why-“</p><p> </p><p>“No, it’s something else but I’d rather not talk about it. Now, please get off of me? I want to try to get our food ready so we can both eat.” Balthazar blushed all the more before slowly pushing himself up as carefully as he could. Once that was done, Vinnie managed to get himself back onto his feet and helped the tall man onto the couch and checked to make sure that the fall hadn’t hurt him.</p><p> </p><p>There were those warm tingles again. Just like in the dream, what was with that? Was there something that he was missing here? How was it that he could feel the tingles both in reality, as well as the dream? It just seemed so strange, that he was able to feel such things both in dream and reality. Breathing deeply, the young man knew that he had to calm himself down right now and focus on what was happening in the now.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, doesn’t seem like you got hurt this time so that’s a plus.” Vinnie said with a big smile on his face. Chuckling as he did so before pushing himself up onto his feet and made his way back to the kitchen and started to get back to work on their meal. Yet, Balthazar couldn’t help but feel confused about the whole thing.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie was acting strange…</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t want people seeing his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>He was acting strange when it came to the dream.</p><p> </p><p>This was something that he felt like he should look into but right now? He wanted to focus more on getting better. Because the sooner he was better, the better it would be for him later on. Though he just hoped that he could get back to work on looking out for Vinnie as soon as he can.</p><p> </p><p>This was going to be a long night for sure.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm just gonna ask, do people even like this story?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Curse?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vinnie and Balthazar go out after the latters fever broke, but it seems that it is also time for a lesson in Balthazar's family history.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After a few days, Balthazar’s fever finally broke. He still had a sore throat to say the least and was congested but he could at least function perfectly fine for the most part. During those few days though, Vinnie had spent nearly all of his time looking after Balthazar to ensure that he wouldn’t make himself feel worse.</p><p> </p><p>Even now, he was pestering him about staying inside a little longer to ensure that he was at a hundred percent. Though, Balthazar wanted to get out and about, he hated to stay inside longer than he already had as it was.</p><p> </p><p>Though, because Vinnie had gone out of his way to look after Balthazar during those few days, he had decided to treat the man to lunch. Maybe some ice cream if that were the case. Vinnie of course accepted it since food was involved. They had both decided to go to some kind of deli that was in town that would allow them to have something nice to eat.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over his shoulder, Balthazar saw that Vinnie was looking around with wide eyed wonder. It seemed that he hadn’t expected for Balthazar to treat him to anything. That much was a given, yet he couldn’t help but think about how Vinnie has acted during those few days.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar would have the same dream. Him playing piano while a man would play the violin. It was the same song as well and he would end up mumbling the lyrics in his sleep. Vinnie of course would hear it and it would seem to… upset him for some reason or at the very least put him into some kind of shock. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he wanted to figure that one out.</p><p> </p><p>But, just like everything else Vinnie was a mystery and that also involved a good chunk of his life.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man folded his hands behind his back as he walked forward. Trying to think on what they could be talking about. Even though Vinnie for the most part was like an open book, he almost felt like it was forced. There was things that he would dodge when it came to answering. So he would end up just talking about something else, but couldn’t find a way to get those answers.</p><p> </p><p>“You okay Cavendish? I still think you should be resting.” Vinnie spoke suddenly, causing the young man to blink as he looked over while staring at the man behind him. “You did just stop having those dreams and… well, you should be resting more.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m fine.”</p><p> </p><p>“You say that now, but what if it rains again. You’ll be back where we started with the cold and you’ll start dreaming those dreams again-“</p><p> </p><p>“Speaking of, you seem to be weirded out when I have those dreams.” Thankfully he was happy that he’s never brought up the other dream that he has had. There was no telling what would have happened should he have revealed such a thing in the first place. Because if Vinnie was freaking out over one dream, how bad would he have been if Balthazar spoke about the other dream?</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man looked away from the Italian as he said “I’ll be fine. After all, I had a fantastic nurse looking after me. Did I not?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie had stopped walking for a moment. Causing the blonde to look back over his shoulder as he stared at the shorter man. His eyes were wide while staring at Balthazar. It seemed that the man hadn’t been expecting such praise to say the least. Though, his shocked expression had soon turned into a big grin on his face before jumping forward. Wrapping an arm around the blonde’s neck pulling him down a little being more eye level. “Hell yeah you had an awesome nurse!”</p><p> </p><p>“I will retract my statement if you don’t let go of me.” Balthazar said with a glare. The tingling was hitting him once again and it made him want to wiggle himself out of the man’s grasp. There had to be something about these touches that caused it. Normally his sensitive skin only kicked in from skin to skin contact.</p><p> </p><p>With Vinnie, it was happening with just simple touches such as this and it confused him.</p><p> </p><p>The shorter man blinked before tilting his head at the blonde before releasing his hold. At least Vinnie saw that the grip had made Balthazar a little uncomfortable. More so with the height difference.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man calmly said “Now, I figured fresh air would do me a world of good. Then of course, I wanted to thank you for all that you have done for me since I’ve been ill.” Balthazar folded his hands behind his back once again, wanting to try to try to appear important or at least proper. Looking over at the man now next to him, he added “But, if you keep insisting that I should go back to bed, I will reframe from buying you anything.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie let out a whine. It seemed that he still wanted to argue about it a little more but had decided to let it go for the time being. “Good.” Balthazar said with a chuckle before he stopped in his tracks before looking over at Vinnie and frowned a little. “Actually, how do you plan to hide yourself? You are famous and all.”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t worry, I’ve had to deal with people like that in the past before. I can easily get them to leave me alone if I have too.” Vinnie said with a chuckle as he folded his hands behind his head. A big grin was on his face as he stared over at Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>The taller man couldn’t help but stare at him with a calm gaze. Yet, his heart was beating quickly within his chest as he stared at the bright smile on Vinnie’s face. How was it that something as simple as a smile was enough to get his heart beating like this? Why was his heart beating so quickly in the first place? It was something that he didn’t understand and he hoped that he did. Yet at the same time he actually didn’t want to understand. As if he was afraid of knowing the answer.</p><p> </p><p>Just as Balthazar turned around, someone slammed into his body. Nearly knocking the man over as he throw his arms out, waving them around while trying to regain his balance. Though it seemed that it wasn’t to be, as he fell over. Vinnie of course acted quickly and caught Balthazar. His arms slung themselves under the blonde’s armpits. “You okay Cav?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“I think so.” Balthazar answered, just as he saw the man that had bumped into him started to run on ahead. His arm hidden under a jacket as he started to run off.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde couldn’t help but frown a little at the way that had happened. The man that had ran into him just seemed as if he was in some kind of hurry. Tilting his head a little, the young man found that Vinnie was now putting him back on his feet as he started to dust himself off from the collision.</p><p> </p><p>“That was weird huh Cavendish?” asked Vinnie, wondering what was happening. Or at the very least what had happened.</p><p> </p><p>“Indeed, very weird.” Balthazar rolled his eyes before he started to check his pockets to make sure that nothing fell out…</p><p> </p><p>Only to notice that he was missing his pocket watch.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh no!” He shouted in shock.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong?” asked Vinnie as he tilted his head to the side in confusion. It seemed that he hadn’t noticed that anything was missing. But that was to be expected as no one ever knew about the pocket watch in the first place. Only time Balthazar would have taken it out was to check the time but even that was rare. As he would mostly use his phone unless he was at an opera so the light of his phone wouldn’t disturb people.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over at Vinnie, his eyes wide with panic as he answered “My pocket watch! It’s gone!” He started to panic as he felt his heart beating quickly within his chest. Trying to panic over the idea that he had lost a family heirloom. “It’s been in my family for over four hundred years.”</p><p> </p><p>“Calm down Cav.” Vinnie said, causing the blonde to look at him with wide eyes. How could he calm down?! He was going to lose a family heirloom, something that had been in his home, his family as long as it had and it, of course had taken Balthazar to lose it or at the very least get it stolen.</p><p> </p><p>The shorter man took a deep breath through his nose before reaching out and placing a hand on Balthazar’s shoulder. “Look, he couldn’t have gotten far. You follow him and I’ll try to cut him off. I know a lot of these cities like the back of my hand.”</p><p> </p><p>“You know something that isn’t food, music or video game related?” Balthazar said with a brow raised. Finding it rather hard to believe that it was even possible in the first place. Though, at this point what did they have to really lose by going with this place? The worst case scenario would be losing the watch forever…</p><p> </p><p>“Do you trust me Cavendish?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“How-“</p><p> </p><p>“Do you, or do you not trust me?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked as he stared at Vinnie for a moment. So far, the man hadn’t done anything that would cause distrust in him. The man had gone out of his way to ensure his safety and his health lately and honestly, that showed more than enough to have any kind of trust. Breathing deeply, Balthazar nodded his head as he said “I do.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good, now go!” He slapped the taller man’s shoulder before running the opposite way the man had ran and turned into an alleyway.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar took a deep breath as he started to run through the path that the thief had taken. He would make sure that he wouldn’t get away. Though he didn’t know how far the man had gone. There was no telling what the man was going to do with the watch. Or even where he was going. Or even how far he had gone because Balthazar and Vinnie had procrastinated too long with deciding on what to do and of course the blonde’s slow reaction to him making sure everything was okay on his person.</p><p> </p><p>Looking around at his surroundings, he had tried to see any kind of a sign of where the man was. There had to be something that would notify Balthazar where the thief had gone. But he wasn’t sure what was going on. Or what had happened. But he knew that he had to hurry and find his watch and make sure that it wasn’t damaged from the man slamming into him.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, panic starting to form once again within his chest. He had to know, he had to know where the man had disappeared.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on.” He whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Stopping for a moment, Balthazar breathed deeply, sweat drenching his forehead as he looked for any signs of the man. Nothing came to mind. Breathing deeply, the young man was about to run off again till a sound hit his ears.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh?” He whispered as he saw a can being tossed over to the side. The bang had to have been something knocking it over. But how was that possible? Where could he have gone in the first place? Had the thief really run into the alley just to avoid capture? Tilting his head, Balthazar slowly made his way over to the alleyway.</p><p> </p><p>He had his gun with him should it ever be needed. Though he was thankful that hadn’t been stolen from him but then again the gun would have little to zero value to anyone. Taking a deep breath, the young man tried to steel his nerves in the hopes of capturing the man that had tried to steal from him. Narrowing his eyes, the young man was trying to think on what he was to say when he had the man stuck in this alleyway. The idea of capturing a thief actually felt rather thrilling.</p><p> </p><p>A big smile on his face as he was about to get into the alley till a thud hit his ears.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh?”</p><p> </p><p>Once he got into the alley, he blinked at what he saw.</p><p> </p><p>Standing there in the alley was Vinnie. He had on some black gloves with a big smile on his face. A bit of dust and dirt covered his clothes but not much else was done to him. Vinnie looked up at Balthazar and had a bigger grin on his face. “Yo, Cavendish! What took ya so long?” He asked with a chuckle on his face before he started to pull the gloves off of his hands and put them in one of the many pockets of his pants.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but stare in shock.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” He asked with a tilt of his head before he looked down at the thief who was laying on the ground unconsciousness. He chuckled a little before bending down and started to feel the thief for anything. Was he checking for the watch or was he also checking for any weapons? The shorter man just hummed to himself before he reached into the thief’s pockets and grinned all the more. “Here we are!”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked as he tilted his head to the side before just staring at Vinnie. The Italian pushed himself to stand back up straight. He looked over at the watch with a frown. Was something wrong with his watch? Was there something broken? Did the thief do something to the watch that would have ruined its semimetal value? He didn’t know, and it had only him all the more worried about it.</p><p> </p><p>Before the man could even ask, Vinnie used his sleeve to wipe the watch of what dirt or grim was on it. “It looks fine to me.” He said before making his way over toward Balthazar with a big smile on his face. “Here.” He held the watch out, but his palm was facing downward, his smile still upon his face.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, the blonde reached out, palm facing upward as he waited for Vinnie to return the watch to him. The man before him gave Balthazar a small smile before he set the watch in his hand and pulled himself back.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, as Balthazar stared at his own hand he couldn’t help but feel the mental fog returning to him once again. His breath was coming out in quick deep breaths as he held onto his head.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>In front of him was a well-dressed man. A radiant smile on his face as he held out his hand. “I got something for you. I hope you like it. I mean, I know it isn’t anything fancy compared to gifts you must have received from past suitors but… I hope it is still acceptable?” The man before him said, a soft yet nervous chuckle escaped him.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m sure that it’ll be perfect if it’s from you.” Said a voice, a voice that sounded so much like Balthazar’s but deeper.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>With those words, the man before him nodded before he set something in Balthazar’s palm upward hand. When he looked down, he saw a watch. It was beautiful, shining in the dim light that was above them. He couldn’t help but stare at it in shock and awe. “It’s made out of nickel. It was the best thing that I could find to give to the watch maker.” The man before him spoke. Causing Balthazar to look up and blink his eyes in shocked confusion.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Look inside, I also had it engraved as well. Something in my native tongue that I hope you can appreciate and know that the words are true. As the meaning of the words that reside there are from my heart.” The man spoke, causing Balthazar to smile brightly as he opened the pocket watch to read what was engraved in it.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Cavendish you okay?” asked Vinnie, waving a hand in front of his face.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head quickly, hoping to remove the mental fog from his mind. What the devil was that? Another weird vision? Those were happening more often than not though sometimes they were the same thing and it confused him. Taking a deep breath, the young man rubbed at the bridge of his nose as he tried to think of the right words to say to Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Peeking up at him, he blinked as he saw that the short man was staring at him in concern. Taking a deep breath, Balthazar stood up straight as he nodded. “I’m fine. Just light headed. Don’t worry it passed.” He gave Vinnie a small smile before he looked down at the watch in his hand. Frowning, he opened the pocket watch wondering if it was broken from the slam into his person earlier or when Vinnie showed up.</p><p> </p><p>Checking everything over, he saw that the clock was still ticking and for that he was thankful. The watch had been well taken care of over the years and still in great shape. Turning his gaze to the underside of the cover, he saw the engraving. The engraving looked just like it had in that odd vision. The words were not something that he could understand. No one in his family could understand what it said and no one could even figure out what language it was.</p><p> </p><p>No one knew.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong?” asked Vinnie with a frown.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, I’m distracted by the engraving.” Mumbled Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes as he looked over at the watch and chuckled a little. “Really? It’s so easy to understand.”</p><p> </p><p>Wait what?</p><p> </p><p>“Excuse me? You can read that?” asked Balthazar with confusion.</p><p> </p><p>“I can speak it as well as understand it.” Vinnie said as he chuckled a little as he spoke the words in a bit of an accent. <em>” Sai Shalajas, Ai shor eilar jhyli o, bai taraes cyrn talia os kai shia tia caes shaelyl sai o eil o eilyli.”</em> Balthazar just stared in shock at that. How could he even speak that language with no trouble? No one in his family had been able to read such a thing in the first place and that had only confused him all the more.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you even know what it means?” asked Balthazar with a glare.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course I do.” Vinnie said with a chuckle as he started to walk away. Hands in his pockets as he hummed softly under his breath.</p><p> </p><p>“Well?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well what?” asked Vinnie as he looked over his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you going to tell me?!”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, you didn’t ask me to tell you.” Vinnie said with a chuckle before his smile turned soft and gentle. “The translation is <em> To Balthazar, I will always love you, no matter how many years go by my heart belongs to you and you alone.</em> Which is amazing, but who gave you the watch?”</p><p> </p><p>“My grandmother, it’s been in my family for hundreds of years like I mentioned before. It was given to an ancestor a couple years before he died. It’s been given to the first born son of each generation… which wasn’t often.”</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean?” asked Vinnie with a frown.</p><p> </p><p>“The Cavendish Family Line, has mostly had women, with the men taking the Cavendish name. I for example, am Balthazar Cavendish the fourth. The first known Balthazar was born over four hundred years ago.” He gave a bitter laugh before rubbing at his forehead. “The last owner of the watch, was my grandmother’s sister. The only woman that wanted the watch and she had a great life till she died.” Balthazar sighed softly before rubbing at his face as he looked up.</p><p> </p><p>“Odd that there have only been four Balthazar’s isn’t it?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“It is, yes… but we think it was due to some kind of curse. The men born into the family, or at least Balthazar’s tend to get this watch, or like my grandaunt for example, tend to die because of this watch. No one can prove that it’s the watch, which I seem to have proven thus far as I’ve had this watch for five years now. I’m still alive aren’t I?” Balthazar chuckled a little before walking further ahead.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie though looked a little worried at Balthazar though just gave him a weak chuckle as he shook his head. There was no way that the man could be worried about it in the first place. After all, the so called ‘curse’ was over with. He hasn’t died so far, he’s still alive and kicking. Even on a mission to ensure the safety of someone else. He just had to ensure that he kept Vinnie safe this time.</p><p> </p><p>Even though Vinnie himself had done nothing more than keep him safe. Even went out of his way to get his watch back. Wait…</p><p> </p><p>“How did you beat me to the thief?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, he didn’t really go far. I cut him off, beat him up. He didn’t really put up much of a fight to be honest and when you came around he was knocked out.” Vinnie explained with a big smile on his face. Chuckling at the reminder it seemed. Though the blonde couldn’t help but frown a little at that one. Okay? That just seemed a little odd to be honest. How was it that Vinnie could have ran so quickly in the first place?</p><p> </p><p>It just didn’t make sense to him but at the moment he couldn’t really argue with it. He got his watch back and it wasn’t broken. That was the only thing that mattered to him right now. Vinnie just grinned all the more before he started to walk on ahead. Balthazar of course wasn’t far behind him as he started to put his watch back in its rightful place.</p><p> </p><p>Though there was one thing that he couldn’t help but notice something that was on Vinnie’s shoulder. Tilting his head, the blonde reached out and pulled the object that was on the shorter man’s shoulder. Examining it, he saw that it was a long black feather. It had speckles of white dotting the ebony feather. It was something that he’s never seen before, though he also knew that this feather didn’t belonged to a normal bird.</p><p> </p><p>This feather was too big to belong to a normal bird. This had to belong to a creature of the paranormal… Yet, at the same time he couldn’t help but frown a little more as he wondered if this was a sign of an attack coming toward Vinnie at some point. Looking up, he saw that Vinnie was still walking on ahead. As if there was nothing wrong, nor had he made any indication of a feather having been pulled off of his back. Odd, though he couldn’t help but tuck the feather into his pocket before he started to chase after the Italian man.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe he’ll have to inspect it later. The scanner in his trailer would be enough to tell him what the feather was or what it belonged too. For now though, he just wanted to enjoy some good food with a friend.</p><p> </p><p>A friend that he was starting to feel like he didn’t deserve as Vinnie has done nothing but kept him safe and tended to him while he was ill and unable to care for himself. When it was supposed to be the other way around. So many things that he wanted to do to make up for Vinnie doing so much for him yet, at the same time he had done little to nothing.</p><p> </p><p>It made him feel like he was a failure.</p><p> </p><p>Not just as a hunter, but as a friend.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yeah there haven't been many males born into Balthazar's family, hoping you like the chapter and what do you think of the feather?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Ice Rink Fear?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vinnie decides that some fun is in order so what better to do than to go ice skating! Though it seems that Cavendish has an odd fear of the ice, as well as another dream.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vinnie yawned softly as he made his way up to the bus. They were on their way to the next city over though honestly, he just wanted to stick around to the city and just relax. Though he knew that wouldn’t be happening any time soon. Rubbing at his face, he looked behind him for a brief moment and saw that Crystal was already wide awake as she stood behind him. Giving him a gentle shove as she gave him a small smile.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but give her a smile in return. Yeah, they’ve been friends for years and she knew then he was tired… exhausted, hungry and so on. They were pretty much like brother and sister at this point. Blade was an okay guy, they had moments where they didn’t get along but they would easily look out for each other when the time came about.</p><p> </p><p>Speaking of Blade, he saw that the man was behind Crystal as he groaned. Hating being up before the sun was even up. That was something that they both shared to say the least. Sometimes he wondered if it was just due to Blade not being a morning person, if he could he’d be up all night. Vinnie, he on the other hand, he would prefer to wake up early enough to have maybe brunch or something.</p><p> </p><p>This was just far too early for him.</p><p> </p><p>Once he was on the bus, the young man managed to pick a seat as he sank into the cushion. A soft sigh of content escaped his lips as he leaned back in his seat. Looking up, he saw that Crystal walked on not long after him and took a seat next to Vinnie. As for Blade, he just grunted before making his way over to a nice spot on the bus where he could curl up and soak in the sun when the sun would peek out later on.</p><p> </p><p>Next to come onto the bus was Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie felt his heart skip a beat seeing the man. Sure, when he first saw Balthazar he had felt a swirl of emotions but knew that he shouldn’t be allowing himself to feel emotions for him. After all, the man was here to protect him. (Despite the fact that Vinnie was well protected thanks to his friend’s ha-ha) But, at the same time he enjoyed the man’s company.</p><p> </p><p>He was happy that they could be friends, which was something that had made his heart swell with happiness. Yet, Vinnie couldn’t help but want so much more. He had to literally fight himself over and over again not to allow his heart to desire more from the well-dressed bodyguard.</p><p> </p><p>Friends… was how it should be right? It was the way things should be between the two men right? Nothing more and nothing less.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal reached over and placed a hand upon Vinnie’s, causing him to look over at her with a frown on his face. “Vinnie, you can’t stop what you feel.” Crystal calmly said, causing him to open his mouth to speak but Crystal shook her head. “I know you. You think with your heart, you don’t think with your head even though Blade and I have tried to get you to do so.” Vinnie chuckled a little at that. “But… you know what will happen right? If you allow yourself to follow your heart again?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie lowered his gaze a little at that. Yeah, he did… he’s tried not to allow it but… <em>’It doesn’t matter, it keeps happening and I end up hurt over and over again.’</em> The young man thought to himself before sighing softly. Crystal removed her hand from Vinnie’s as Balthazar sat across from them. When the curly haired man looked up at the blonde, he saw that even Balthazar looked exhausted.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Weird…’</em> Vinnie thought with a blink of his eyes. “Yo, Cavendish you alright?” he asked with concern.</p><p> </p><p>“Mhm, just tired is all. I didn’t sleep well last night, I think a nap is in order while we travel.” Balthazar calmly replied before yawning against the back of his hand. Vinnie felt his hands sweat a little, he wanted to kiss the blonde, wanted to snuggle him as he slept but he had to restrain himself from doing so. “Will you wake me when we arrive? Or at least in a few hours?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure can do!” Vinnie replied with a big grin on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar smiled a little before shifting his body till he was laying down on the couch and drifted off to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, the curly haired young man wanted to do something now. He hated not doing something to keep himself entertained but… he also couldn’t help but watch as Balthazar slept. Did that make him weird? Yeah, he was pretty sure that made him weird at this point. “You shouldn’t be watching him sleep.” Crystal pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re one to talk Crystal, you sometimes watch Blade sleep.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, he moves and talks about as he sleeps, its entertaining.” Crystal pointed out with a glare.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie chuckled a little.</p><p> </p><p>The bus started to move then, Vinnie decided to pull out his gaming console as he hummed. Thinking that maybe if he could keep his mind on something other than Balthazar, the time would go by so much faster for him. Taking a deep breath, he picked one of his favourite games to play, humming as he played. “Hey Crystal, how far did you get in Breath of the Wild?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m at my third temple right now. Fighting the wind temple I like to call it.” Crystal answered with a grin as she scooted closer to Vinnie. Watching as he played the game and pointing out where to go in order to help him complete quests/missions to gain more supplies to upgrade his armor.</p><p> </p><p>Though, Vinnie couldn’t help but keep listening for their surroundings. Or at the very least listening for any signs from Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>The bus slowed down to a stop, making Vinnie wonder if they had arrived already. When he looked out the window, he saw that they had only stopped at a stop light. Shrugging to himself, he went back to his game, though he couldn’t help but jump a bit when he could hear a very loud <em>bang </em>from next to the bus. “What the hell was that?” He asked.</p><p> </p><p>Blade grumbled before he opened his eyes as he looked out the window he was near. “Some kind of old car. I guess the exhaust pipe is so worn down that it lets out a bang. Must need to be replaced or something.” The man mumbled before yawning and going back to his nap.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie took a deep breath as he went back to his game. Not wanting to deal with anything other than his game to let the time pass.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>Balthazar couldn’t help but smile as he walked down the streets with his lover. This man had changed his life, making him feel like he could take on the world. Do what he wanted to do and not what his family had expected him to do. It was as if this man saw a side to Balthazar that no one else did. It made his heart swell with love and pride knowing that someone loved him.</em>
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  <em>Looking over at the man, he couldn’t help but smile like a love struck fool. Then, his gaze fell onto the pocket-watch that he had given him a year ago. The watch itself, even though it was engraved with something he himself couldn’t understand, but his lover had told him that it was written in his native tongue.</em>
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  <em>Whatever language it was, he couldn’t help but love it.</em>
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  <em>Turning his gaze back up at his lover, he couldn’t help but blush softly as he slowly lowered his gaze to the man’s hand. Part of him wanted to hold it, yet he knew that the social norms would never allow such a thing in the first place. It was forbidden to love a man.</em>
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  <em>As painful as that reality was, it was the way the world worked. He hoped and prayed that someday, their love wouldn’t be so forbidden like it had been since he realized that he was in love with this man. Maybe someday, someday their love could be allowed to be displayed in public. For now, he… he was content with loving him in secret.</em>
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  <em>“So, what should we do next Balthazar? I kind of wouldn’t mind doing some light dancing.” His lover spoke with a big grin, a grin that he didn’t even have to look at to know as he could easily hear it in his voice.</em>
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  <em>Balthazar couldn’t help but give a small smile in return. “That does sound rather lovely but… we can’t do it in public. You know that…”</em>
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  <em>“So? Who cares about the rules of those bigots? I love you, and I want the whole world to know it!” He declared with a big smile, hands on his hips before turning his sunny smile onto him. It made his heart thud quickly within his chest. He wanted to pull this man to him in a deep and passionate kiss. Much like the many they had shared thus far since seeing each other.</em>
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  <em>He couldn’t help but smile before pulling the man to him, kissing him deeply.</em>
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  <em>Balthazar knew that public displays were wrong.</em>
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  <em>He knew that it wasn’t right to love another man.</em>
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  <em>Knew that to love another man was a disgrace to him and his family…</em>
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  <em>But he didn’t care.</em>
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  <em>He loved him, more than his own life and would gladly keep loving him no matter what life he will have, he would always love him. His heart would always beat for this man, would always feel the sweet tingling of love that would envelop his body when they touch. His soul itself, would always know who this man was no matter what may come his way and nothing would change that.</em>
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  <em>For Balthazar knew that he had found his soulmate.</em>
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  <em>The moment they pulled away, the young man blinked as he thought he heard something. A bang of thunder and a flash of lightening lighting up the darkened sky. “I think it’s going to rain.” Commented Balthazar.</em>
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  <em>“Yeah, perfect to dance in.” His lover said with a big smile.</em>
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  <em>“Indeed.”</em>
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  <em>Soon, the couple heard something clicking. Turning his gaze, the young man couldn’t help but stare in shock as he saw a man standing before them. Still a bit a ways from the couple as he pointed a gun in their direction. Balthazar couldn’t help but stare in shock as he was about to ask what was going on. If this was some kind of a mugging, that this man knew Balthazar’s family, or at least knew of their wealth.</em>
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  <em>Before he could even ask anything a loud bang rung through his ears. Hitting his lover in the chest. He cried out his name, a name that was lost to his own ears due to the thunder. Turning his gaze back to the shooter, he saw that his gun was now pointed at him. A sick and twisted grin appeared on his face as he stared at Balthazar.</em>
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  <em>“Sorry buddy, just business. I hope you understand.” His mugger said, his smile never changing from its cruel and twisted state. Balthazar heard the bang and a searing pain surging through his chest. He stumbled back a couple steps, blood spilling down his chest and staining his clothes. He couldn’t help but look down at his chest for a moment before falling onto his back roughly.</em>
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  <em>The man laughed like a mad man as he walked away.</em>
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  <em>Balthazar could feel the pain within his chest. It was burning and searing through his body and only seemed to grow hotter and hotter. Though he wanted this pain to end. Tears started to pour down his cheeks as he thought that he had gotten the man he loved killed. For what reason, he didn’t know.</em>
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  <em>Blood filled his mouth in that moment, making him think that the bullet had hit his lung. Making him believe that he would drown in his own blood. Gurgles escaped him as he coughed. Eyes closing as he wanted this pain to just end, to take him away from this cruel world.</em>
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  <em>Before he knew what was happening around him, he thought he felt someone wrapping their arms under his shoulders and helping him to sit up. Balthazar weakly looked up, tears falling more quickly, trying to look at the person that was holding him. Blinking his eyes slowly, he saw that someone was slowly coming into focus, could see their lips moving and yet he couldn’t hear anything other than the flashing of lightning.</em>
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  <em>Rain soon started to drizzle from the sky as he saw the image of the person coming into his view. Calling out, he wasn’t sure what the man was saying but he knew that it had to be his name. Blinking slowly, he tried to speak once again but no words came out.</em>
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  <em>Trying to focus the last of his energy to his eyes, hoping to see the face of the person who was trying to comfort him. Just wanting to comfort him in his last moments before he left this mortal coil forever…</em>
</p><p> </p><p>When Balthazar opened his eyes, he saw Vinnie looking down at him in concern. His hands upon his shoulders as the warm tingling’s shot through his body, it made him wonder what was with that in the first place. Blinking slowly, he was trying to make out what the curly haired man was trying to say to him but it almost as if his head was filled to the brim with cotton.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie frowned at him a little before placing a hand on Balthazar’s forehead, his lips moving once again it seemed though it almost looked like he was mumbling.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, Crystal came into his line of sight, also looking worried. Her lips were moving as well but he couldn’t make out any of the words that she would speak either.</p><p> </p><p>Tightly shutting his eyes, Balthazar shuddered a little at the memories of his dream. All of those dreams, would start out great. Fantastic and end in heartache thus far. Or at least two of them for the most part, though he couldn’t be sure what it was that had caused those dreams in the first place. Taking a deep breath, the young man tried to calm his nerves.</p><p> </p><p>“-dish?”</p><p> </p><p>Slowly his eyes opened once again as he looked up and frowned. Did his hearing return to him? Turning his gaze back up to Vinnie, he saw that the curly haired man frowned once again as he started to speak. “Cavendish, you okay? You’re kinda freaking me out here.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m fine, I am sorry for not replying Dakota but my hearing was temporarily lost to me.” Balthazar calmly said before waving off Vinnie’s hands as he pushed himself to sit up. “I do not know why you are so worried. Did something happen?” asked the blonde as he looked over at the two concerned people.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal and Vinnie looked at Balthazar, looked at each other before looking back to the blonde. Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little at them in concern. Just as he was about to speak, Vinnie reached out and the blonde nearly panicked. Unsure as to why that was, but when he felt the brown haired man’s hand on his cheek Balthazar felt that warm tingling once again. Though, the young man couldn’t help but wonder why it felt… stronger than it did before.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re crying Cavendish, you were crying in your sleep.” Vinnie whispered as he gently used the pad of his thumb to wipe away the tears from the left side of his face, before reaching out with his other hand to rest his palm against Balthazar’s right cheek and wiped away at his tears as well. “You were making weird sounds in your sleep, like you were choking on your own spit or something. I was about to roll you to your side in case you were about to vomit and… well, choke on it. But you woke up.” The blonde couldn’t help but stare at Vinnie with wide eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Not because of the tears that he seemed to have started to shed in his sleep.</p><p> </p><p>But because of the gentle way that the man before him was holding his face.</p><p> </p><p>The tingling seemed to spread throughout his entire body at this point and it made him want to lean in closer. Biting his lower lip, Balthazar turned his gaze away from Vinnie. “It was just… an upsetting dream is all. Been having them a lot lately.” Was all he could bring himself to admit. There was no possible way that he’d dare allow himself to tell them what the dreams were about. He couldn’t. Wouldn’t… it wouldn’t be proper to bother them with something as simple as a dream.</p><p> </p><p>“You sure? And, how long is ‘lately’?” asked Vinnie with a frown.</p><p> </p><p>“I do not wish to speak about it any further.” Balthazar calmly said before moving Vinnie’s hands from his face. The lack of warmth nearly made him want to cry out though he had to restrain himself. “I was merely tired, wanted some sleep and now it seems that it won’t be possible. That is all there is to this.” He said with a roll of his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, seeing Vinnie’s concerned eyes made his stomach twist with guilt.</p><p> </p><p>“What were you doing before waking me?” asked Balthazar, hoping to direct the conversation to something that isn’t him.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked at him for a brief moment before giving a small smile. “I was playing a video game with Crystal helping me out. That was when you started to panic in your sleep.” Of course he had to go back to what they were talking about before. Balthazar just wanted this to be over with already. Rubbing at his forehead, he was about to speak till Vinnie beat him to it. “The bus also happened to get a flat tire so we’re gonna be stuck here a little longer. So, we’re all going out to have some fun before we have to leave again.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but blink his eyes in confusion. So, while he was asleep, dreaming for who knows how long, and the bus just so happens to break down? He couldn’t help but find this whole thing so baffling to the point that he wanted to throw his hands into the air about how absurd this whole thing was!</p><p> </p><p>“So, what do you say Cav? Wanna go do something fun?” asked Vinnie with a big smile on his face. All traces of his concern over Cavendish’s dream gone for the time being. That had to be some kind of sign that Vinnie would try to look at the bright side of something. Though he couldn’t be sure as to what went on in his head, but it was rather refreshing some days.</p><p> </p><p>“Whatever it takes to get off of this stuffy bus.” Was Balthazar’s reply.</p><p> </p><p>The curly haired man couldn’t help but grin as he started to look through his phone for somewhere they could go to. Anywhere really that would give them something entertaining to do but, to be honest the young man highly doubted that there was anything entertaining that they could do here.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, it didn’t take long for the man to let out a cry of excitement. “Awesome! Ice skating!”</p><p> </p><p>“Ice skating?” Balthazar and Crystal both said.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah! There is an indoor skating rink we can go too, it isn’t far from here either!” He said with a chuckle before looking back at his phone. Most likely getting the address. “Not far either, that works out. Crystal, go wake up Blade and we’ll get going! This is going to be fun!” Vinnie cheered before he went to talk to Brick. Most likely to alert the manager that they were going to the ice rink while they wait for the bus to get fixed up (even though it was only a flat tire) and to enjoy themselves with a good old skate.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar though, found himself feeling rather nervous about the whole thing.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Yup, he already didn’t like it here. Balthazar found this place to be <em>freezing</em> to the point that he had to grab a sweater. It wasn’t a sweater that he wore often, but it was something his sister had bought him for Christmas last year. Just never had a chance to really wear it since most of his missions were where it was warm all year round. Like Florida.</p><p> </p><p>Now? He kinda didn’t have much of a choice in the matter unless he wanted to get himself sick again and risk another embarrassing encounter with Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down at the wool sweater, Balthazar sighed. It was a nice shade of blue yes, but he just didn’t think it suited his tastes.</p><p> </p><p>“Nice sweater.” Vinnie called out as he walked up to Balthazar. The blonde couldn’t help but look at the shorter man with a raised brow. Vinnie though just grinned as he said “It matches your eyes perfectly. Where did you get it?”</p><p> </p><p>“My sister bought it for me one year on Christmas. Never had a chance to wear it. Had been, rather busy with my tasks to wear it and none of my destinations had been anywhere cold to even bother with it.” Calmly replied Balthazar, though he couldn’t help but fight the blush that dared to try to creep up onto his cheeks.</p><p> </p><p>The curly haired man just nodded his head before looking on ahead. They had arrived at the ice rink, the walk through the building had been a little too long for Balthazar’s liking but he couldn’t help but feel something swirling around within him as he stared at the rink itself. Tightly shutting his eyes, the young man took a deep breath before he looked at the two that accompanied him and Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Blade had on a dark blue sweater to help keep him warm. Actually now that he thought about it he and Blade were the only ones wearing sweaters. Vinnie wore his jacket so maybe his jacket was warm enough for him?</p><p> </p><p>Though when his gaze fell on Crystal, she was the only one still wearing a t-shirt and shorts. <em>’How in the devils name isn’t she freezing?!’ </em>As if sensing his gaze, Crystal turned her head as she stared at Balthazar. Giving him a calm yet also an unamused expression. How was it that she could keep up that expression in the first place? It was puzzling but he figured that maybe he didn’t want to know.</p><p> </p><p>She gave a small smile as she said “I don’t get cold that easily. This is nothing for me.” She had a bigger grin on her face, the smile kind of made the young man a little nervous over all of this. “Come on, let’s just skate already! I wanna enjoy myself before they fix the bus.” Crystal grabbed a hold of Blade’s hand, the man blushed a deep red that nearly matched the young woman’s shirt before dragging him onto the ice.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar though couldn’t help but stare in confusion. “Is she always like that?” asked the young man.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but Blade doesn’t mind. He likes her pushiness some days. He kinda finds it endearing or something. Been like that since they met.” Vinnie rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the two in confusion. “Though, sometimes I even wonder what he sees in her.” So, even Vinnie doesn’t know what it is that draws Blade to Crystal. It is rather weird, though at the same time it was almost cute to see that Blade who was normally so quiet would want to be with someone like Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>Something had to have happened that made him want to be with her in some way.</p><p> </p><p>“So, ready to go ice skating Cavendish?” asked Vinnie with a big grin on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Turning his gaze back onto the rink, he had that feeling churning within his stomach again. Gulping, the young man couldn’t help but feel his body trembling slightly. Why was he feeling like this? His hands started to get sweaty as he clenched them into tight fists. His eyes swimming with images of his first odd dream.</p><p> </p><p>The dream of when he was trying to ice skate, skating to his ‘mother’ who was on the other side, only to fall through the ice. Drowning, freezing, water filling his lungs and clouding his thoughts with thoughts and feelings of leaving someone behind. Someone that he had most deeply cared for but he didn’t know who it was until-</p><p> </p><p>“Hey you okay?” came Vinnie’s voice, a hand on Balthazar’s shoulder causing him to turn his gaze as he looked over. Vinnie looked worried. Why? Why was he worried? “You’re looking really pale.” Wasn’t he normally pale? “Let’s go sit down for a bit, maybe you need something to eat yeah?” Vinnie coaxed before grabbing a hold of Balthazar’s hand and started to walk with him to the benches that was nearby. At least it got him away from the ice, he wasn’t even sure what had just happened in the first place?</p><p> </p><p>Was it because of the first dream? He was afraid of falling through the ice and drowning? That makes no sense, there is no possible way to fall under the ice as there was a floor underneath it. So, why was he so afraid over something like that in the first place? It was baffling and just upset the man all the more with not knowing the cause.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he reached up with a trembling hand as he rubbed at his face. Of all the things that had to bother him it had to involve the ice rink? “So, do you think you can stomach some food? I mean, it may not be hot or anything… but it’d be better than nothing at least right?” Vinnie said with a frown on his face. Balthazar could hear the concern.</p><p> </p><p>Looking at the man for a brief moment, Balthazar could see the way that Vinnie was staring at him. It made the blonde’s heart clench at the sight. “I could use some water… and maybe some snacks.” Honestly, Balthazar just wanted some time alone to think and to calm down. Not wanting to bother Vinnie with his problems as it was.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure thing Cav! I’ll be as quick as I can!” He said with a chuckle before taking off.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but watch as Vinnie ran off. Hopping off of the benches, only to trip in the air itself as he landed face down. The blonde was about to call out to him only for Vinnie to shoot up and grin. “I’m okay!” He shouted before running off to get their well-deserved snacks. The blonde couldn’t help but give a faint smile before it slowly disappeared.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie would go out of his way to help Balthazar. What does the blonde do for him? Nothing, and that made him feel all the worse for such a thing.</p><p> </p><p>He felt like he was a terrible friend for the man, and had no way of being able to make it up to him. As for how that would be, he had no idea.</p><p> </p><p>Turning his gaze back to the rink, the young man couldn’t help but feel the fear etching itself back into his heart. He could feel it pounding within his chest, fearing that it would burst from his ribs. Balthazar had to tear his gaze away from it. Why was this even happening in the first place? It just didn’t make sense to him, he’s never feared ice before and now? All of a sudden, it was as if the ice itself would swallow him up much like the nightmares of monsters that he had as a child.</p><p> </p><p>As a child they at least made sense. Yet, as an adult, it didn’t and it only made him all the more upset about such an ordeal. Why would he be afraid of falling through the ice, when there is a bottom that at most would maybe just go a little past his ankles at that.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, it didn’t seem to stop that fear, even with that knowledge within his mind… the fear remained in some way.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello again.” Came a female voice, causing Balthazar to blink his turquoise eyes as he looked over to his side.</p><p> </p><p>Standing a few steps away from him was the woman. The same woman that he had encountered while on his frantic search for Vinnie the first time. Before Vinnie had saved him later on… it was rather odd to see her again. “Hello Miss.” He had no idea what her name was, as she refused to give it to him. “What brings you by?”</p><p> </p><p>She just smiled at him and sat down next to him. “I like watching people skate sometimes. It makes me think about how skating can bring people closer together.” The young woman said with a brighter smile before turning her gaze to the rink. Balthazar just kept his focus on her for the time being. Thinking that if he kept his gaze upon something else he wouldn’t have to worry about anything more. Or at least staring at the lake.</p><p> </p><p>One thing though caught his attention.</p><p> </p><p>“No sketch book today?” he said, hoping to change the topic.</p><p> </p><p>“Hm? No, I left it at home but no worries. I have a very good memory, not like a photographic memory but close enough.” She replied with a big smile. Balthazar wanted to see more of her sketches, though at the moment it seemed that it wouldn’t be possible. After all, she was a really good artist for sure though, it made him wonder why she drew people of all things. Or how she could even draw people when they were moving in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>“So, how has things been with the guy you’re guarding?” she asked with a tilt of her head. Balthazar blinked his eyes in confusion before turning his gaze away from her. “Isn’t it going good for you at all?” She asked with concern. Maybe even a hint of worry lacing her words though the young man couldn’t be sure as to why that would be.</p><p> </p><p>He sighed softly and ran a hand through his blonde locks before starting to wring his hands a little. “We have become friends I guess.” The young man calmly said before looking over at the young woman next to him. “Actually, it feels nice to have a friend that doesn’t see me for my family fortune.”</p><p> </p><p>“Fortune?”</p><p> </p><p>The young man wanted to slap himself for that one. He looked at the young woman for a moment before tearing his gaze away. “I will not lie but my family is… rather rich and people saw me as the snobby rich kid because of it.” Balthazar couldn’t help but sigh a little at that. Wringing his hands once again before he stop the thoughts/memories that would plague him. People sneering at him, wanting to get close to him because he was rich. Wanting him to buy them expensive things or even just thinking he was a snob who would cry to his parents at any time something would go wrong.</p><p> </p><p>Which, didn’t really happen often if at all.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t seem like a snob to me.” She replied.</p><p> </p><p>“I should hope so.” Balthazar said with a small smile before rubbing at his forehead. “Yet, I can’t speak for Dakota but I hope that he doesn’t see me that way.” He leaned back, feeling like the world was falling putting its weight upon his shoulders. “He’s done so much for me and I’ve done nothing.” He dug his fingers into his legs, feeling the self-loathing that he felt for himself. Vinnie has done much for him and what had Balthazar done? <em>Nothing!</em> Breathing deeply, he whispered “He must think I’m some kind of pathetic man who can’t even keep myself safe let alone him.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t think that.” The woman spoke softly, causing the blonde to blink as he looked over at her in confusion. The young woman looked away, her dark curls blocking his view of her face. “I think, he’s just happy that you’re alive is all.” Huh? What was that supposed to mean? “Happy to have you alive to talk to, to laugh with and enjoy simple things with.” How would she know all of that? “To be honest, having a friend around that accepts you regardless of your status? Regardless of how you both acted in the beginning?” she turned and gave him a bright yet watery smile.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar’s heart ached at such a sight.</p><p> </p><p>“I bet, he’s just happy to have you as a friend. To have you in his life, and that is worth more than anything else in the world!” She said with a cheery tone to her voice. Such a contrast to what her expression was. It seemed as if speaking of friendships or any kind of relationships hurt her in ways that Balthazar couldn’t even come close to understanding. It nearly broke his heart at the sight… no, it did break his heart seeing this sight from her.</p><p> </p><p>“Miss, I didn’t mean to upset you-“</p><p> </p><p>“No, I’m okay. It isn’t something you did I promise!” she said with a smile. Only to frown as she checked her watch and sighed. “I need to get going. Just… think about what I said okay? Friendships can mean more to people, you just have to look for the signs is all. If you want to thank him for all he’s done, think about what he’d want or wish to have.” She then got up and started to take off.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait! Miss, what’s your-“ He never got a chance to even ask her for a name. Again. She had taken off before he could even get the chance. “How does she appear when I’m troubled?” He whispered softly, not really expecting any kind of an answer. To be honest, Balthazar wasn’t sure if he would ever get an answer in the first place. It just seemed as if everything that had happened in his life lately was just going very crazy. Not yet insane, but maybe so very close.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing softly, the young man pulled his knees to his chest as he looked at the ice. A shudder went through his body once again at the reminder of his dream. He hated that, having no control over himself? It upset him, angered him actually and he wanted to throw something into a wall or well, anyone. Breathing deeply, he was about to say something to no one in particular till something came into his line of sight.</p><p> </p><p>“Here ya go Cavendish!”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked as he looked up at the grinning face of Vinnie. The blonde couldn’t help but stare in shock, how long had Vinnie been standing there trying to get his attention? Had the young man been so lost in thought that he couldn’t hear his surroundings?</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.” Was all the blonde could say before accepting the cup of water before sipping at it. Though before he could even think of anything more, he felt a comforting hand upon his shoulder. Frowning, the young man looked over at the curly haired man next to him as he was about to ask why he was trying to comfort him but Vinnie, already answered him before Balthazar could voice his own question.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re shaking Cav. What happened while I was gone? Is it the ice? It has to be the ice right?” Vinnie asked with a tilt of his head.</p><p> </p><p>Opening his mouth to speak, only to close it. Could he tell Vinnie? Tell him anything about the dream that he had been having? Or at least the one dream that he had that was causing all of the trouble in the first place?</p><p> </p><p>Looking back at the rink, the young man nodded his head slowly. “What’s wrong with the rink? Is it just too cold in here for you or was it something else? Talk to me Cav.” Vinnie voiced his concern.</p><p> </p><p>Biting his lower lip, Balthazar sighed. “I had a dream, a nightmare actually. I was getting ready to skate with some strange woman that I guess was supposed to skate with my mother or something in that dream?” The blonde shook his head before letting out a soft sigh. Running a hand down his face, the young man tried to keep his words calm and relaxed. Yet he was struggling to do so. “I was skating toward her and then… the ice broke apart under me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Cav…” Vinnie whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“I was struggling to get to the surface… I couldn’t find the hole that I broke through and couldn’t escape. No matter what I did, no matter what I could do, I couldn’t find my way back to the surface… thinking about leaving someone behind and how much it hurt.” Rubbing at his arms, trying to keep himself calm yet he was failing at the task. “I drowned after that… and woke up. It happened on the day you saved me from the AC unit actually.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar let out a soft sigh as he rubbed at his face. Trying to keep himself calm but his trembling started to intensify. Eyes were wide as he tried to get himself to calm down. Yet, it seemed that nothing would stop him. Before he could even voice anything more, Vinnie wrapped his arms around Balthazar. Trying to comfort him, which had shocked the blonde a great deal. “It’ll be okay. It… it was just a dream. It can’t hurt you.” Vinnie then pulled back, a big grin on his face. Yet, the smile almost seemed forced. As if he was trying to smile for Balthazar’s sake more than his own. “Now, let’s go skating okay? I won’t let you out of my sight, in fact I’ll make sure you won’t drown.”</p><p> </p><p>“You know that it’s impossible to drown here.”</p><p> </p><p>“Says the man who seems to be afraid of the rink and of falling through the ice.”</p><p> </p><p>“… Touché.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar took a deep breath as he started to walk on down to the rink. Vinnie of course had started to put the snacks into his jacket pockets. It made the blonde rather curious as to how Vinnie could pack away so many snacks both in his pockets, as well as just eating them as it didn’t seem that he gained much weight. Though, he also couldn’t be sure if Vinnie was wearing anything that would hide any kind of weight that had built on him.</p><p> </p><p>When they got to the ice though, Balthazar froze. For a different reason though this time. “What’s wrong?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“I… I can’t skate.” Balthazar admitted.</p><p> </p><p>“Just hold onto me. I won’t let you fall or anything I promise!” the curly haired man promised. Causing Balthazar to blink as he looked down at the shorter man. How would this man stop Balthazar from falling? Sure, he had tackled the blonde out of harm’s way. Then of course there was that creep that was getting rather handsy with Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the young man knew that he didn’t want to fall. But he also didn’t want to cause any more trouble for Vinnie than he already does. “I… I’ll just cling to the wall.”</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, that would just stress your arms out and you’ll be sore afterwards.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll be fine-“</p><p> </p><p>“No, come on!” Vinnie said with a roll of his eyes before grabbing a hold of the blonde. Pulling him onto the ice before they started to skate. Vinnie of course had a firm hold over both of the blonde’s hands. Pulling him on the ice while the curly haired man skated backward. Balthazar kept an eye out for anyone so they wouldn’t bump into anyone. Though, Balthazar couldn’t deny that his legs weren’t trembling so much.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, he was trying to keep himself standing up onto his own legs. Though he was finding the task to be much more difficult than he thought to be possible. Gulping, he looked up as he saw that Vinnie was just smiling brightly at him. Balthazar blushed a little, hoping that Vinnie would just chalk that up to the cold of the rink. Before he could even say anything, he slipped and yelped as he fell into Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Ow.” Both men said, though both of them blushed when they noticed how close they were.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar felt his heart hammering in his chest in that moment. Why was it that he felt this way around Vinnie of all people? He’s been around so many people in his life and yet for some reason, Vinnie was the only one that had caused such a reaction in him. It didn’t make sense to him. Then of course there was the fact that he had no idea what this feeling was that would swirl within his chest now and again.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping a little, Balthazar was about to say something till he saw that Vinnie was leaning in closer. His eyes closing a little and the blonde thought that Vinnie was going to just blink and make some kind of off comment or a joke.</p><p> </p><p>Before anything could happen though, a voice cut through the silence.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on you two, we’re wasting time here!” Crystal shouted as she made her way over to the two downed men. Blade not far behind her. Crystal helped Balthazar up onto his trembling legs. While Blade helped Vinnie and just sighed.</p><p> </p><p>“She has a point, it isn’t often that we can get some time to hang out like this.” Blade pointed out before grinning a little as he looked over at Crystal. “Isn’t that right puppy?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not a puppy Blade, nor a dog.” Crystal glared at Blade before looking over at the blonde man next to her. “Want some help skating? I can help is that works.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned a little, yet he saw the odd look in her eyes as she looked… worried. Concerned though… he knew that it wasn’t at him.</p><p> </p><p>What was going on in her head right now?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Spying and Peaches</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar feels like he didn't know something about Vinnie so he decides to spy. The result? He learns something more about Vinnie as well as get something fluffy in return.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>’This is actually a good read…’</em> Balthazar thought to himself as he was halfway through the first book of one of Vinnie’s favourite series. It was rather odd that he would have actually enjoyed the series and he was only on the first book. Though actually the book itself wasn’t all that complicated to understand but he could see the challenges that the girl would go through in order to understand her abilities and her path in life.</p><p> </p><p>In a way, it kind of made him think of his own life.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar was born into a family of hunters yes. Wanting to make a difference in the world, wanting to be a hero to the people. Yet, no matter what he would do, he just couldn’t do anything that people had expected of him. Because he was a Cavendish, because he was of the prestige family of professional paranormal hunters.</p><p> </p><p>And his parents saw him as a failure, as did everyone else at P.I.G.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, the blonde looked back down at the book in his hands and blinked in shock. Seeing that he had finished the book. Balthazar must have been rather very distracted to have finished it. Shrugging to himself, the young man closed the book and set it aside and pushed himself up from his seat as he went to get himself some tea as well as checking his detector for any sign of danger or paranormal creatures that had managed to sneak into the parking lot that housed their trailers for an upcoming concert.</p><p> </p><p>“How is it that with me being on this mission for few months now that nothing has happened?” Questioned the blonde. He had no idea how it was that he hadn’t been able to detect anything that would alert him to any kind of danger. No attacks or well anything and that confused him to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, he took a sip of his tea only to spat it out as he coughed.</p><p> </p><p>The device was beeping. It had detected something, causing Cavendish to hold the device with both hands. Eyes wide and filled with shocked wonder and amazement. “It got something?!” He shouted in shock before rushing to his room, device in hand as he grabbed his gun. Then of course grabbed his knife and slid it in his boot before running out of his trailer.</p><p> </p><p>He had to hurry, had to find the creature. If he could find it and detain the creature, then he would be done this mission once he got answers!</p><p> </p><p>When that thought hit his mind though, his running slowed down till he just… stopped in his tracks. If his mission was complete… he’d have to leave. He’ll most likely never see Vinnie again. Tightly shutting his eyes, the young man knew that he had to do this. That he had to keep going, had to ensure Vinnie’s safety before anything else. If they were truly friends then… then they could still keep in contact right?</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, his determination renewed with some kind of hope that would allow their friendship to remain intact no matter what may come their way. Narrowing his eyes, he started to run off once again. The young man knew that he had to keep his friend safe, no matter what may come his way, no matter if this was the end of his mission.</p><p> </p><p>He was determined to keep his friend safe!</p><p> </p><p><em>’Please be safe Vinnie!’</em> Balthazar thought to himself as he ran toward the trailer that housed Vinnie. The device beeped a couple times, indicating that the creature was still here, still nearby and he knew that he had to pick up the base before it was too late!</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, his shoulders quickly lifting and lowering as he tried to catch his breath. The young man looked up as he stared at Vinnie’s trailer. There weren’t any screams but that doesn’t mean it was a good thing. Vinnie was anything but quiet unless he was sleeping or eating. Even walking the man would hum a tune under his breath and he knew that better than anyone in the world.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing his eyes, he tried knocking on the door, hoping to get some kind of answer from him. Yet nothing hit his ears. No wait, he could hear singing, though that was a distraction most likely. If Vinnie was distracted then the creature could capture him easier or worse drain him of energy and leave him for dead if it came to such a thing.</p><p> </p><p>Banging on the door, he shouted “Dakota! Let me in!” He held fear in his voice as he tried to get the man’s attention.</p><p> </p><p>More singing.</p><p> </p><p>“Blast!” He hissed before trying to open the door. Locked. “Blast it all!” The blonde hissed once again before looking back down at the device. It was having trouble figuring out what it was sensing. Only that it wasn’t human, and that it did indeed belong to the paranormal. Narrowing his eyes, he shoved the device into his pocket before muttering “Forgive me for the door Dakota.” He held onto the railings of the trailer before lifting his leg and kicked in the door as hard as he could muster.</p><p> </p><p>The lock broke from the sheer force of the kick and Balthazar managed to let out a sigh of relief before rushing into the room. “Dakota!” he shouted, only to stare with wide eyes as he saw something that he hadn’t expected to see in the first place. Or even a million years should he have survived that long.</p><p> </p><p>Standing there, holding a broom while sweeping the floor was Vinnie alright. But, what he hadn’t expected was to see the man in nothing but a towel, and a pair of headphones on his head. He was singing the lyrics to a song though the words were a little mumbled so he couldn’t really make out what the lyrics were. Though there were the few times that he would hear some verses to the song.</p><p> </p><p>Though, that was the least of his problems as he could see Vinnie’s fuller frame as he sang and swayed to the music. (Honestly, he was surprised the towel even stayed on in the first place!) His face started to turn pink as he shouted “What the devil are you doing?!”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie stopped for a moment before he turned his head a bit and blinked and… for a moment Balthazar saw that the curly haired man wasn’t wearing his glasses this time. And could make out that he had a brightly coloured amber eye… so, he had a blue and amber eye? Interesting…</p><p> </p><p>Slowly, the man removed his headphones as he asked “Cav, what are you doing here?”</p><p> </p><p>“What am I doing?! What are you doing?!” shouted Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh… sweeping up some feathers?” Balthazar blinked as he looked down at Vinnie’s bare feet seeing the feathers on the floor. Only to remember that he was still seeing a nearly naked Vinnie before covering his eyes. “Aw, someone shy? That’s cute.” Vinnie said with a chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>“Just put some pants on at least!” Balthazar shouted with a squeak.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine, fine, I’ll put on some damn pants already.” Vinnie said as he turned away and grabbed a pair of red pants… was that a track suit he had laid out on his couch? Though as Vinnie was turned away from the blonde, Balthazar noticed something on the right side of Vinnie’s back. Huh?</p><p> </p><p>The young man was about to ask him about that till he saw that Vinnie was starting to remove the towel. Letting out another squeak as he covered his eyes. Was Vinnie really just going to strip in front of him?! He wanted to hide or something but was unsure as to how he was going to do that in the first place!</p><p> </p><p>Gulping, he lifted his hand a tiny bit as he saw that Vinnie’s feet were moving while the man put his pants on. When he was sure that the man had thrown his pants on he slowly lifted his hand a little more, fearing that if he did so too quickly, that he would see more than he dared to.</p><p> </p><p>When his hand had lifted, he saw that Vinnie had his track suit pants on, as well as his glasses and was grabbing a muscle shirt. Oddly enough since the man had no muscles to be seen. Yet, while Vinnie was throwing his shirt over, he saw the same mark, located on his chest right in the same spot as the spot on the curly haired man’s back. “Dakota… that mark…” Balthazar whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Hm? What mark?” asked Vinnie as he started to throw on his jacket. The suit itself was red and yellow, well the jacket was red with yellow sleeves and orange cuffs.</p><p> </p><p>“I noticed a mark on your back and chest… what is that?” asked Balthazar, concern lacing his words. He reached out, as if to try to touch the mark on his chest. Yet, before he could even get close enough, Vinnie’s hand shot up and grabbed a hold of the blonde’s wrist. Causing Balthazar to look up in shock. “Dakota?”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t… please.” Vinnie pleaded, causing Balthazar to blink in confusion. He’s heard Vinnie plead before, it was strange and almost… alien to him. Frowning in confusion, the young man slowly nodded before drawing his hand back and just stared at Vinnie in confusion. Wanting to know what was going on with him, why he seemed nervous when it came to that… marking? Scar? Whatever it was, he had no idea but he wanted to know what it is. It was just as weird as how he wouldn’t allow Balthazar to see his eyes without his glasses.</p><p> </p><p>“What is that mark Dakota? It almost looks like you’ve been… as if you’ve been shot at.” That had to be it right? After all, the only way to have a mark like that was either being shot, or stabbed but the mark wasn’t a straight line so no knife/sword was used on him.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie looked away. His gaze looking haunted for a brief moment before he just gave out a big grin on his face. “Oh, nothing serious! I was just shot once is all-“</p><p> </p><p><em>”What?!”</em> Balthazar shouted, causing Vinnie to wince a little. “I hope that you charged them for what happened! They can’t be allowed to get away with that!” Shouted the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Holding up his hands, Vinnie calmly said “It’s been dealt with for a long time Cavendish, don’t worry about it. I barely even felt it.” Huh? What did that mean? Before he could even ask, the curly haired man just chuckled as he said “Though, it just left me a scar. I don’t like people touching it and I don’t like looking at it. Memories are a nasty thing to deal with sometimes.” Memories? What memories? “So, I try to hide them when I change or I don’t even look at myself in a mirror if I’m shirtless.” That… kind of sounds odd to him, how bad could the memory be?</p><p> </p><p>Looking back down at the ground, the blonde noticed the feathers, he frowned. Yes, he wanted to speak more about the scar but… the way Vinnie looked right now? He saw that he seemed a little uncomfortable still, as if the memories caused him some kind of distress but figured that it was best to change topics right now.</p><p> </p><p>“So, may I ask about the feathers?” asked Balthazar. They had to be fake, all the feathers that started to surround Vinnie lately. Though this? This was rather insane, he would see a single feather here and there, but now? The pile of feathers that was neatly piled from the sweeping made Balthazar curious as to how long he had gone without cleaning or what he was doing to have accumulated this many feathers.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked a little before he looked down at the pile near his feet. “Oh, a stressed creature was molding its feathers all over my floor. Once it calmed down I started to sweep up the feathers though I decided to have a shower first.” Vinnie replied with a big grin on his face before asking “By the way, can you hand me my chain? It’s on the table near you.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar stared at Vinnie for a moment. The creature? Was it the one that he was hunting before rushing into the room? He couldn’t be sure, though he blinked his eyes when Balthazar heard Vinnie’s request.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over he saw the golden chain in question. It was almost odd to see Vinnie without the chain. Always seeing him wearing it, not once had he ever seen it off of the man but figured it wasn’t a terrible request. Lifting the chain, he turned to Vinnie as he was sweeping up the feathers into a dust pan before going to dump the feathers into a plastic bag. Odd, why wouldn’t he throw it out in an actual garbage bag? He was a little confused on that but figured he did something with the feathers? Like donate them to art students or something along those lines.</p><p> </p><p>Once he saw that Vinnie was done with his task, Balthazar held out the chain and the curly haired man could only smile. “Thanks.” Vinnie said as he accepted the chain from his friend’s grasp.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Wow, did you really get me a golden chain?” asked a voice.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“You’ve done so much for me and I wanted to give you a token of my love for you my dear. I hope you like it.” Replied another voice.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I’ll treasure it forever, I’ll never take it off, unless I’m cleaning myself up or cleaning the chain itself.” Said a happy voice.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m just so happy that you love it, I thought of you when looking for a gift.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Thank you, I love you.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“And I you, my dear.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish? Hey, Cavendish you okay?” Vinnie called out, shaking Balthazar’s shoulders. Blinking his eyes a couple times, trying to clear his vision as he slowly looked up and sat that Vinnie was standing over him. The blonde was sitting on the couch, when did he move? “You okay? You just blanked out on me there.” Vinnie said in concern.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“It was as I said, the moment I took the chain from you, you just blacked out or something. Standing there, eyes glazed over and kinda looking lost or something. I got worried of you falling down so I sat you down. Ya know, since you were so out of it that I thought you’d fall. Because you didn’t seem to be awake, but you were so I moved you to keep you-“</p><p> </p><p>“I get it Dakota, what happened after.” Balthazar nearly snarled.</p><p> </p><p>“Right, anyway…” Vinnie frowned a little before looking away. “You started to mumble something under your breath but I couldn’t really understand what you were saying. I got worried, I was about to call for help when you stopped mumbling so I thought you were coming around.” Vinnie explained before looking back to Balthazar and placed a hand on his forehead. Checking for any sign of a fever and nodded. “No fever, think you’ll be okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me.” Looking up at the man before him, the blonde asked “Why are you dressed like that anyway?”</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, I have some errands to run right now. I’ll be back in a few hours.” The curly haired man gave a weak chuckle before saying “I’ll be back later. Don’t worry.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” Balthazar replied, unsure as to what it was that Vinnie was going to do, but he hoped that he wasn’t doing anything stupid or reckless. Though, it seemed that Vinnie had one thing to ask.</p><p> </p><p>“By the way, why did you kick my door in?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“I was worried about danger and you weren’t answering me so… I kicked the door in.” He couldn’t tell Vinnie about the device. There is no way that the man knew about the paranormal. Looking over the trailer, he saw that there was no broken window. No furniture was moved or scratched or… anything. So, why did the device claim to have detected anything when Vinnie was alone?</p><p> </p><p>He’ll have to check on it later, but first… he’ll have to think about some spying.</p><p> </p><p>“You really are a big ol’ softie after all! I knew you cared!” Vinnie said with a big grin on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Correction, he did have to spy on Vinnie it seemed.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Balthazar had to be careful when he waited for Vinnie to leave. The young man peeked through the window of his trailer as he watched Vinnie leave maybe an hour after the blonde left the man’s trailer earlier. The curly haired man looked around, as if making sure that no one was following him. Did he not want people to know what he was doing?</p><p> </p><p>What was he doing anyway? And in a track suit of all things? It had Balthazar puzzled, though not as puzzled as the device no longer picking up on the creature that he had been looking for earlier.</p><p> </p><p>Actually, this was far more puzzling for the blonde than anything.</p><p> </p><p>Once Vinnie kept walking forward, starting to leave the lot. Balthazar knew that this was his chance to follow the man. To learn where Vinnie was going and he would ensure that he learned what it was no matter what may come his way.</p><p> </p><p>Quickly, he left his trailer, locking up behind him as he started to follow Vinnie at a distance. The man was humming a soft tune to himself while he walked to his destination. Balthazar couldn’t help but feel a little curious, since becoming friends, Vinnie had tried to have Balthazar with him as well to hang out. Even something as simple as book shopping but this one thing? Whatever it was, Vinnie wanted to keep it hidden from the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Why though, it bothered Balthazar more than he wanted to admit.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie stopped and started to look around at his surroundings. Balthazar acted quickly and hid behind a car, peeking over at the tracksuit clad man. Vinnie rubbed at the back of his head as he looked around at his surroundings before shrugging his shoulders. “Must be hearing things.” Vinnie muttered before going back to his walking to his destination. Wherever it was, Balthazar knew that he wanted to find out, wanting to learn why Vinnie would hide… whatever this was from him.</p><p> </p><p>The journey itself seemed kind of boring. Honestly, the movies that Zoey had him watch with the spy theme, he had thought that it looked far more interesting than what he was doing right now. Taking a deep breath, the young man would zip to hiding spots, even going as far as grabbing/paying for a newspaper so he could hide his face.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie of course had stopped once again and looked around once again. Was he able to tell that Balthazar was following him or, that someone was following him? Gulping, the blonde feared that he would be discovered, fearing that Vinnie would be upset with him for following. For not trusting him… well, he wasn’t sure what Vinnie would think of ‘distrust’ since the man was normally nothing but smiles and helping people or getting people to smile.</p><p> </p><p>So, was it even possible for Vinnie to distrust someone?</p><p> </p><p>The brown haired man just shrugged once again. “I need more sleep.” He mumbled before walking on ahead once again. Okay, so that had to be a good sign right?</p><p> </p><p>It didn’t take long for Vinnie to walk into a building. Balthazar frowned a little as he looked up and saw that it was a pet store. “Dakota doesn’t have a pet…” Balthazar commented in confusion. He had no idea why Vinnie was even in there in the first place. Balthazar hid in the nearby bushes as he waited for the man to exit from the store.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar had felt like he was waiting forever. Though really, it took maybe about fifteen minutes before Vinnie started to leave the store, carrying a few bags in his hands. Balthazar blinked a little at that. Why would he carry so many bags? What could he be carrying in the first place? He couldn’t make out the items that Vinnie had purchased but he knew that he had to find out.</p><p> </p><p>The young man felt like he was getting further and further away from understanding what Vinnie was doing. He had thought that he was starting to understand Vinnie but right now? Felt like it was so far from the truth.</p><p> </p><p>A few times, Balthazar had felt like he was getting further away from Vinnie. So many people crowded the streets, causing Balthazar to mumble an ‘excuse me’ or ‘pardon’ or even a ‘please let me through’ while trying to get through. Vinnie, thankfully had worn a brightly coloured tracksuit so it made it easier to find him.</p><p> </p><p>Though he had to admit, that he had nearly lost Vinnie a few times here and there, but managed to find the curly haired man without any trouble for the most part. Once they had arrived at Vinnie’s destination, he saw that the man had arrived at a… “Is this an animal shelter?” Balthazar whispered in shocked awe.</p><p> </p><p>Slowly, Balthazar started to make his way into the building, curious as to what Vinnie was doing here. Was he trying to get an animal? Was that even allowed with them traveling so much? He had no idea, but knew that he had to know what was going on.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing his eyes, the blonde made his way into the building as he tried to find Vinnie and if he had too, he’d drag him out of here! If he was trying to pull something then he would make sure that he couldn’t do anything to hurt anyone here. (Which he doubted would happen but sometimes Vinnie was unpredictable but he felt like Vinnie was hiding something when he took off in secret)</p><p> </p><p>Upon entering though, Balthazar was about to shout for Vinnie till a sound cut him off.</p><p> </p><p>The sound of Vinnie’s laughter.</p><p> </p><p>Turning his gaze, he saw a room surrounded by glass windows. Most likely to allow people to look into the room as there were tons of animals within the room. Dogs and cats mostly, while to the far off wall were small glass cages that held smaller animals. He wasn’t sure what was in there, since he couldn’t see them but there were also many animal beds that lined the floor and a few cat trees or cat shelves if that was what they were called? He couldn’t be sure.</p><p> </p><p>But, sitting in the middle of the room was Vinnie as he pet at the dogs who were licking at his face, then there were the cats that were either snuggling against him and there was two of them laying on his lap. The sound of Vinnie’s laughter made Balthazar’s heart light, and fill with an emotion that he just couldn’t place. It was odd, but not unwelcomed.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes slowly, the blonde made his way to the room only for a kind voice to stop him.</p><p> </p><p>“He is such a sweet man.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked as he turned around. Saw a woman smiling happily, must be a volunteer here. “He came in carrying bags full of toys, treats and even some spare food cans that we needed. Even donated some money for vet bills.” Balthazar blinked in shock at that one. Turning back to the curly haired man, he couldn’t help but stare in awe at the man. “The only thing he asked was to pet the animals and they love him. I’ve never seen some of them this happy before.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but stare in wonder and awe. He whispered “May I go in as well? He’s actually a friend of mine that I was looking for.”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course, just be careful okay? The animals aren’t allowed to leave that room without a volunteer.”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course.” Balthazar said with a nod of his head.</p><p> </p><p>With that, Balthazar took a deep breath as he slowly opened the door and carefully walked into the room. Vinnie let out a whine as he said “Come on, I thought I could be in here for an hour at least. That’s what I asked for.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but chuckle a little. Vinnie sounded like a child that was having his toy taken away. Though it seemed that Vinnie wasn’t expecting to hear a male’s laugh, since the volunteer was a woman. The brown haired man turned his head to look over his shoulder and stared in wide eyed shock. “Cav?” He said in shock.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar nodded his head before he looked away, almost shyly. “Yes.”</p><p> </p><p>“How did you…? Did you follow me?”</p><p> </p><p>“No!” Balthazar shrieked before looking at the floor. “Maybe.” Was his reply before peeking up at Vinnie and saw the man was just smiling. “May I join you?” The blonde asked as he looked back at the floor, a couple cats had walked over to him and rubbed their heads against his legs. Vinnie patted a spot next to him, his smile growing bigger and brighter which made the blonde’s heart skip a beat.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping a little, Balthazar quickly sat down on the floor next to Vinnie. Right away, a cat jumped and laid on his lap. Purring away without a care in the world. Balthazar couldn’t help but give a soft gaze down at the black cat as he carefully pet its soft fur.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, he wasn’t much for animals, but he did have to admit that they were cute. His sister though had a soft spot for cats and dogs. “So, why did you follow me?” asked Vinnie as he pet a small dog who rested its head on his leg.</p><p> </p><p>“It was odd that you wouldn’t tell me where you were going. I was worried something was wrong, or that you were being blackmailed so, I followed you. I am sorry if it seemed like I didn’t trust you.” Balthazar looked over at the curly haired man next to him and gave him a frown. “I was worried for your safety is all, so I followed you. It surprised me, to see you go into a pet store of all things and come here.”</p><p> </p><p>A chuckle escaped Vinnie, causing Balthazar to frown as he looked over in confusion. Why was he laughing? “So much alike.” Vinnie mumbled, causing the blonde to want to ask him what he meant. Who he was thinking about right now but wasn’t sure how he could even ask such a thing. “I sometimes go out and buy some pet supplies.” Vinnie spoke suddenly, causing Balthazar to blink in confusion. “If I find a shelter nearby, and have time I go out, buy some stuff, take it to a shelter and donate some money for vet bills or whatever supplies they would need.” The curly haired man chuckled a little before looking at the cats and dogs that surrounded them. “In exchange, I just want to pet the animals, to show them that they are loved.”</p><p> </p><p>“Huh?” was all Balthazar could say.</p><p> </p><p>“Some animals are given up due to some stupid reasons here and there. Because they lick furniture, chew on things that can easily be dealt with. Abuse, and the worse of all because they don’t match the furniture.” Vinnie whispered the last part with so much venom that Balthazar almost thought he’d poison someone with his words. The shorter man took a deep breath trying to calm himself before looking over at the man beside him. “So, I go to shelters not just to donate stuff, but to play and pet the animals that need to know that people can love them.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar’s eyes widened in awe.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s silly but-“</p><p> </p><p>“No it’s not.” Vinnie blinked at the blonde. Rubbing at the back of his neck, Balthazar calmly said “My sister would agree with you. She hates animal cruelty, but she can’t have a pet herself due to her still living with our parents and they don’t like most animals.” Balthazar admitted before he looked down at the animals. All of them were just relaxing, cuddling with the two men and it made the blonde smile a little at the sight. It was cute yes, but they still weren’t his type of animals.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up, Balthazar asked “Speaking of animals, what are in those glass cages anyway?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, those are bunnies.”</p><p> </p><p>“Bunnies?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, sometimes people give up bunnies for one reason or another and it’s painful sometimes.” Vinnie calmly explained.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked a little at that. “Bunnies?” He whispered softly before pushing himself up carefully from the floor. Not wanting to disturb some of the animals that circled around them but, they made themselves comfortable again it seems. Finding a way to curl up against Vinnie. The blonde made his way over to the glass cages and blinked as he saw all of the fluffy bunnies. Some looked like babies, some seemed as if they were adults.</p><p> </p><p>His gaze fell upon a white fluffy bunny. Blinking a couple times, the young man carefully made his way over to the bunny as he tilted his head and slowly reached out. The bunny flinched a little it seemed, nervous. Not that he could blame the poor thing. Must have gone through so many things.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar won’t admit this to many people, but he had a soft spot for bunnies. He had one as a child, his grandmother got him one when he was little and he loved that fluffy creature for as long as he had it. “Do you like bunnies Cavendish?” asked Vinnie from his spot on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>He opened his mouth to speak, unsure if he should tell Vinnie about his affinity for bunnies? Turning his gaze back to the curly haired man, he thought about it for a moment. Biting his lower lip as he was trying to think if it was the right choice or not. Friends… they did share secrets right? He was pretty sure that they did. “Yes, I do.” He admitted before looking back down at the white bunny. “Had one as a small boy, my grandmother got me one for a birthday gift once. I named her… uh…”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, now I have to know the name! Come on Cav, you can’t leave me hanging here!” Vinnie said with a laugh.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blushed a little as he mumbled the name of his first bunny.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry what was that?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>He tried again.</p><p> </p><p>“Didn’t hear you!”</p><p> </p><p>“Fluffy Buns.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait what?” Vinnie questioned, sounding surprised, but didn’t seem like he was trying to mock the man for the choice of names for his first bunny. “Really? You named her Fluffy Buns?  That’s so cute!”</p><p> </p><p>“It was childish.”</p><p> </p><p>“You were a child though Cavendish.”</p><p> </p><p>“That… That’s beside the point! To have such a childish name for a pet is just… just so… so…” Balthazar groaned as he used his free hand to rub at his face.</p><p> </p><p>“So, if you took this bunny back with you… what would you name her?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s obvious you want to take the bunny home so, what do you wanna name her?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes in confusion as he looked down at the bunny. She was sniffing at his hand now, almost seeming like she wanted to nuzzle his hand but was afraid too. Balthazar couldn’t help but feel his eyes soften as he stared at the bunny. Okay, he couldn’t really deny it, she was cute and he did want to adopt her. She made him think of his bunny but he sure as heck wasn’t going to name her Fluffy Buns.</p><p> </p><p>“Peaches…”</p><p> </p><p>“Peaches? You wanna name her Peaches?” Vinnie asked with confusion in his voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Why not? She’s the colour of white peaches.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sweet!” Vinnie said with a chuckle, making Balthazar look over at the curly haired man with a soft blush staining his cheeks. Why did he feel like his life was just getting all the more complicated when it came to Vinnie Dakota? But, at the same time he couldn’t help but feel his heart hammering within his chest as he stared at the man. He truly felt something for Vinnie but he just wasn’t sure what it was that he felt.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I got the idea with the shelter because well, when mom and I were with a rescue, we would hear some really upsetting stories about why animals would be left at a shelter or abandoned. And yes, sometimes it was because they wouldn't match the fanature so that sickened me to my core. Anyway, yes I figured Balthazar had a bunny as a kid, because I remember Dakota saying in the show 'how can you be so out of... rabbits?' lol it needed to be done.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Laser Tag</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After a show, Vinnie decides that they need something fun to do in order to celebrate. so, what better than a game of laser tag, only for Balthazar to have another vision.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>play when song starts<br/>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sSOt7oU9Iw&amp;ab_channel=GoldenBoys</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar couldn’t help but lean against the wall as he watched Vinnie, Crystal and Blade chatting among themselves as they tried to get their setup done for the show tonight. Though Vinnie wanted to try to move around more during the show but wasn’t able to do so due to needing to be at the microphone stand.</p><p> </p><p>The young man couldn’t help but shake his head as he let out a small chuckle. It was rather entertaining to say the least. Yet at the same time he couldn’t help but agree a little. He had seen enough shows at this point to know that Vinnie wanted to dance about as he played and just performed for everyone but at the same time he knew that the couldn’t as people needed to hear him singing.</p><p> </p><p>Yet the desire to dance itself was still as ever present for the shorter man.</p><p> </p><p>The way Vinnie would sway his hips with the beat, tapping his foot and even just shifting his shoulders either side to side or up and down as he performed. The blonde couldn’t help but feel his cheeks burning in a blush before he shook his head hoping to get the blood to lower from his cheeks.</p><p> </p><p>“Is there something that I can do just so I can move more on the stage? I’m tired of standing still!” whined Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“I have suggested a few ideas but you shut them down because you worry about Brick getting on your case.” Crystal pointed out with a sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“Though, Brick is also cheap as hell when it comes to money.” Blade added with a straight face.</p><p> </p><p>“What were the suggestions?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I had suggested that either Vinnie here puts on a headset that would be connected to the speakers so people could still hear him singing to allow him free range of the stage.” Crystal pointed out as she looked over at Vinnie before letting out a soft sigh before running a hand through her hair as she sighed once again. “The other option was that he prerecords his verse of the song and then just holds the microphone and dance about to his hearts desires.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes at Crystal’s suggestions. Honestly, they weren’t bad suggestions but would have worked without a problem. Looking over at Vinnie, he tilted his head a little before saying “Why didn’t you go with the suggestions?”</p><p> </p><p>“His reasons?” Blade started to snicker. “It’s because the headset would mess with his fro.”</p><p> </p><p>Crystal slapped Blade upside the head. So Vinnie didn’t want his hair messed up? Frowning, Balthazar calmly said “What about an earpiece that would have a microphone on it? It would just be attached to your ear rather than being atop of your head.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes at him in shock from that suggestion. It seemed that he hadn’t thought of a headset like that before. Balthazar had to admit, seeing a confused Vinnie was rather cute but, he wasn’t going to allow that thought to stay in his head for the time being. Right now was the time for a show to be performed, not to think about the possible adorableness of the singer that he was to guard.</p><p> </p><p>“Holy shit I can’t believe that I didn’t think of that!” shouted Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“You are an idiot Vinnie.” Crystal said with a sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“No kidding.” Blade agreed before rubbing at his face. A soft sigh was escaping him before he went to set up his base guitar. Crystal rolled her eyes before making her way toward her drums. Leaving Vinnie and Balthazar alone to talk.</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t know if that should be a good or a bad thing.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie had a big grin on his face as he said “Thanks for the idea though Cavendish. I can’t believe I never thought a headset could be just attached to my ear like earbuds.” Didn’t he ever think of that in the first place? If earbuds could be wireless as well as have a microphone then why couldn’t he have thought of that? If anything it should have been the first thing he thought of doing since he had seen the man with a wireless headset so why?!</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar ran a hand down his face as he mumbled “I can’t believe you never took up Crystal’s suggestion, just because you didn’t want to ruin your hair.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey!” Vinnie pouted before running a hand through his thick locks. It bounced back in place before saying “My hair makes me look good!” The man said with a chuckle before a big grin was on his face. “It’s what gets people to notice me.”</p><p> </p><p>“People would most likely notice you more if you showed your entire face instead of hiding half of your face behind your shades.”</p><p> </p><p>“I told you, I can’t do that.” Vinnie pointed out with a pout before letting out a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“You didn’t explain why though.”</p><p> </p><p>“People will fall in love with me if they see my eyes. I told you that after your first show with me.” Vinnie said with a smile on his face. Balthazar just narrowed his eyes at that. Really? He was going back to making up some weird joke about people ‘falling in love with him’ because of his eyes?! He wanted to reach over and slap Vinnie but he wasn’t able to do so. Honestly, he didn’t think he’d be strong enough to slap him, but there was also the fact that he didn’t want to. “Um… Cavendish? Why are you staring at me like that?”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you seriously trying to joke your way out of this?!” shouted Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes in confusion before asking “What do you mean?” He tilted his head a little to the side.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde narrowed his eyes as he let out a small snarl. “The joke about people falling in love with you because of your eyes.” He pointed out before shaking his head. “That isn’t a thing! It is impossible to ‘fall in love’ with someone just because of their eyes. Maybe a connection but not falling in love!” He rubbed at his face before mumbling about getting a drink before the show started. He needed to get out of the area for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>This was going to be a long night that’s for sure.</p><p> </p><p>The show though, he just hoped would be a little more interesting now that Vinnie could do what he wanted to do during a show.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The show hadn’t been too bad this time. Most likely due to the fact that Vinnie could actually move around some more and Brick well, he wanted to throw a fit but when he saw people showing more energy and joy he thought that they would actually buy more of Vinnie’s merchandise. <em>’He really does see Vinnie as a cash cow.’</em> thought Balthazar with a soft sigh before his focus went back to the curly haired man. Music started to play for the last song of the night, the show had gone rather quickly tonight.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>(Tonight we honor the hero)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Blade could actually say something during the shows? That was rather interesting to say the least. Honestly, it was something that he hadn’t thought to be possible since the man or even Crystal never really sang anything during the shows. As for Vinnie, he was strumming away at his guitar as he had a big grin on his face.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Take off your crazy mask, no need to hide your face</em><br/>
<em>Destruction, lies, and hate, just throw them all away</em><br/>
<em>The scent of sweat and honey lingers in the air</em><br/>
<em>I love that flavor! Flavor! Flavor!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Twirling around on his feet, Vinnie made his way over to Blade, nearly sang at the man’s microphone before jumping away from him and toward to Crystal. A big grin on his face before making his way back to his original location on stage. So far he wasn’t really doing much dancing about but he was at least doing something to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Just wanna hold your hands</em><br/>
<em>Just wanna hold your hands</em><br/>
<em>Just wanna hold your hands</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Spinning on the balls of his feet, Vinnie held out his hand while strumming away on his guitar with one hand, yet the man’s gaze was soon upon Balthazar. Making the blonde blush a little as he stared at Vinnie. What was with that? Why was he staring at him like that? It made his heart hammer in his chest like crazy.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>(Hey people! Lets go back to zero!)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Once again, Blade sang just a simple line and it made the blonde wonder why he didn’t sing much. If at all for that matter, it was rather puzzling though he felt like it was something he’ll never find out. Which was something that he hated, he hated that he couldn’t figure something out to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Go crazy! Hey kids!</em><br/>
<em>And shine your light upon a yesterday</em><br/>
<em>There’s nowhere else to go</em><br/>
<em>Go crazy! Hey kids!</em><br/>
<em>Keep searching for a place that we can never go oh oh!</em><br/>
<em>Go crazy! Hey kids!</em><br/>
<em>You’ll never find a purpose for your soul</em><br/>
<em>If you don’t drop that ego</em><br/>
<em>So if your crazy</em><br/>
<em>Why don’t you call my name again and again?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Hopping from one foot to the other, Vinnie walked among the stage as he stood next to Crystal and sang against her ear. She flinched a little from the volume it seemed though she used her leg to shove Vinnie away with a bit of a snarl from what he could make out of her facial expression. Vinnie though just laughed a little before making his way around the stage, his head tilting from side to side as if in tune with the beat.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>(Are you ready!? I respect the hero!)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Blade and Vinnie strummed away, though the former just stayed in one spot. Standing near Crystal as if he was afraid of Vinnie getting in his face next. Why that was, he didn’t know but felt like he would find out at some point or maybe Blade just had some personal space issues?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Feels like the world is one big mess of distortion</em><br/>
<em>You don’t look like a god, but you sure act like one oh yeah</em><br/>
<em>Who’s the master who calls my favorite name!?</em><br/>
<em>We go forever ever! Ever!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Sliding around on the balls of his feet, Vinnie was on his knees with a smirk on his face as he strummed away at his guitar. Even having a spare moment to throw his fist up in the air before strumming back on his guitar, jumping to his feet as if he was never on his knees in the first place. It was rather amazing to say the least, it was as if Vinnie could, and couldn’t dance at the same time. Did he just have many odd talents?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Go crazy! Hey kids!</em><br/>
<em>And shine your light upon a yesterday</em><br/>
<em>There’s nowhere else to go</em><br/>
<em>Go crazy! Hey kids!</em><br/>
<em>Keep searching for a place that we can never go oh oh!</em><br/>
<em>Go crazy! Hey kids!</em><br/>
<em>You’ll never find a purpose for your soul</em><br/>
<em>If you don’t drop that ego</em><br/>
<em>So if you’re crazy</em><br/>
<em>Why don’t you call my name again and again?</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Shifting himself from side to side again, the young man jumped, landing on his left leg as he spun around with a big grin on his face before dropping down onto his knees. His head bowed as he strummed away. Both Blade and Crystal (Which was weird to think of with Crystal wore a blindfold) looked at their friend in concern for a moment before shrugging. Balthazar though couldn’t help but look on in worry before he started to wring his hands to show his concern for the tanned skinned man.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie threw his head back as he, Blade and Crystal started to vocalize the music, and it was rather strange to say the least. To even see/hear Crystal do anything other than play the drums but it seemed that she could at least do that for the most part. Though he couldn’t help but be a little curious as to why she would be so willing to play the drums in front of people if she couldn’t even sing in front of people.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Just wanna hold your hands</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Just wanna hold your ha-ha-hands</em><br/>
<em>Just wanna hold your ha-ha-hands</em><br/>
<em>Just wanna hold your ha-ha-hands</em><br/>
<em>Just wanna hold your ha-ha-hands</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie kept his eyes closed as he remained on his knees. His head bowed once again before slowly starting to lift. As well as him rising back onto his feet. Balthazar almost thought that he was trying to prove some kind of personal point. As if he was trying to rise above something, something that no one could ever understand but the man in question. It was rather baffling, but Balthazar wanted to understand the man more. Why? He didn’t know.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Go crazy! Hey kids!</em><br/>
<em>We can’t fight against the winds of change</em><br/>
<em>One day they’ll blow us all away</em><br/>
<em>Go crazy! Hey kids!</em><br/>
<em>We were supposed to meet so tell me where did you go?</em><br/>
<em>Oh, oh!</em><br/>
<em>Have I gone crazy?</em><br/>
<em>Am I still searching for a love that died</em><br/>
<em>So many years ago?</em><br/>
<em>Go crazy! Hey kids!</em><br/>
<em>Don’t let that fleeting future slip away anymore</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Jumping on his feet, Vinnie spun on his feet still strumming away. His smile growing wider and wider as he played. His spin started to slow down as he stared at the crowd, starting to back up as if he was afraid of them. Afraid of letting people down in that moment but, there was some kind of twinkle in the man’s eyes, telling Balthazar that he was planning something. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew that it was something big.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Oh, oh!</em><br/>
<em>Just wanna hold your hands!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Then, Vinnie bent himself at his knees once he was done his verse and jumped into the air. Trying to do a backflip… only for his landing to be far from graceful. For the man’s foot had slipped out from under him from his landing, and he landed hard on his back.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>(I swear! I respect the hero!)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Blade had said his last part with a slap to his face for the most part. Balthazar couldn’t really blame him for that one. Maybe this was why Vinnie wasn’t allowed to dance because he pulled stunts like this?</p><p> </p><p>Without a second thought, the young man ran over to Vinnie to help him up thinking he was hurt. Though Vinnie was just laughing while he laid on the floor. Balthazar just sighed and shook his head. “You are impossible.” The blonde mumbled before helping Vinnie to his feet.</p><p> </p><p>“You know you love me.” Vinnie said, which made Balthazar blush like mad.</p><p> </p><p>“You are a good friend, simple as that.” Balthazar responded before managing to get Vinnie to his feet and helped to dust him off.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just grinned all the more before looking over at the crowd as he raised his hand and waved to them all. “Have an awesome night everyone and thank you for coming!” Everyone cheered as the crowd started to disburse while everyone was leaving. Balthazar rolled his eyes a little as they started to walk away to the back of the stage.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde sat Vinnie down and started to check him over to make sure that he wasn’t hurt. There wasn’t any scrapes or anything of the sort. Even checked the man’s back to ensure that he wasn’t seriously hurt to say the least. “Why did you try a backflip of all things?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes in confusion before a big grin broke out onto his face. “I thought it’d make the show seem cooler. Looked better in my head but meh, guess it wasn’t meant to be.” He chuckled a little before rubbing the back of his head in a nervous manner. “Anyway, let’s go do something fun! We had such an awesome show tonight!”</p><p> </p><p>“And what, pray tell do you propose we do?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, there is a laser tag place still open. I can call and ask them if they can reserve a game for us or something.” Vinnie said with a bigger grin on his face. He chuckled a little before pulling out his phone and already started to do what he wanted. Balthazar though of course never played laser tag. Or even what it was for that matter.</p><p> </p><p>He had a feeling that this was going to be something that he wasn’t going to enjoy at all.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Why did you have to drag me here?” asked Balthazar as he blandly looked at the building.</p><p> </p><p>It didn’t seem like much. Just looked like a dome with some glass panel. Then there was a big sign that says ‘Laser Tag’ in big bold lettering. Looking over at Vinnie, Blade and Crystal, he saw that they were all talking about the teams that they were going to do. The young man couldn’t help but think that he’ll be on Vinnie’s team since he didn’t really know the other two very well. Didn’t really interact with them much.</p><p> </p><p>Though at the same time, it was a matter of the man in question wanting to be on the same team as him.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a deep sigh, the young man looked back at the building as he wondered what there was to the game. It was a game correct? He didn’t know, but he just hoped and prayed that he would be able to even handle this in the first place. What was he to do? What could he do in the first place? Frowning a little, the young man looked back at the others and saw that they all had a smile, or at least Vinnie and Blade did. Crystal still looked a little unamused to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>“Great!” Vinnie said before making his way over to Balthazar and wrapped his arm around the blonde’s neck and pulled him close. “Cavendish and I against you two.” Wait what? “This is going to be awesome!” He chuckled a little before looking up at Balthazar before saying “Come on Cav, we’re gonna go sign up for a game and we are going to kick their ass!” With that, the shorter man ran into the building while laughing.</p><p> </p><p>“I… I don’t understand.” Balthazar admitted.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s happy to be teamed up with you and the fact that the team is even this time around.” Crystal pointed out with a sigh. Balthazar blinked his eyes in confusion before he could even ask what she meant, Crystal held up her hand, as if telling him to be quiet as she explained. “You see, for years we would all try to play team-games but sadly we couldn’t since there were three of us.” She sighed softly before rubbing at her eyes and took a deep breath. “Now that there is four people to play, he’s happy to have someone to have on his team.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked a little at that. So, Vinnie was normally by himself when it came to teams or there just weren’t any teams it seems. That had to bother Vinnie more than he had let on. As for Balthazar, he hadn’t really played the game before, so he wouldn’t be sure if there would be any means of him being a good player.</p><p> </p><p>“Relax Cavendish, it’s just a game. There is no need to be a ‘perfect’ player when you haven’t done this before.” Crystal calmly said as she walked past him.</p><p> </p><p>“How did you-“</p><p> </p><p>“Come on, let’s go in already!” Crystal called out.</p><p> </p><p>“Coming puppy!” shouted Blade with a big grin on his face as he followed after Crystal. Balthazar just blinked his eyes in confusion. He had no idea what had just happened. How was it that Crystal knew what he was thinking? Or what he was even feeling for that matter? That confused him but felt like he would have to find something out at some point.</p><p> </p><p>Pulling out the device from his pocket, he tried to see if there was any creature of the paranormal around. There was a blip and it came from behind. Turning his gaze, he looked around trying to find any source of the creature but found nothing. “Must be broken.” He mumbled before putting it back in his pocket and started to make his way inside the building.</p><p> </p><p>Once inside, Vinnie rushed over to the blonde as he held out… a vest? Tilting his head a little, wondering what it was that Vinnie was holding. Or what it was for, though it seemed that Vinnie was already aware of what it was that the man was trying to ask without really asking. “You gotta wear this vest to play the game! Here, let me help ya!” Vinnie said with a big grin on his face as he started to help Balthazar with the vest.</p><p> </p><p>The vest for the most part just slipped on and it looked like a normal vest that people would wear for protection rather than fashion. It had clips on the side and a big red glass circle on the chest. Next he saw that Vinnie was handing the blonde some padding that was for the elbows and knees. Were they trying to ensure people’s safety? Was this place really that dangerous?</p><p> </p><p>“Need help with the elbow padding?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Please.” Vinnie helped with the elbow padding but when it came to the knee padding, Balthazar managed himself. Once that was done, the young man frowned as he saw the ‘gun’ that Vinnie was holding out to him.</p><p> </p><p>It looked like the kind of gun that you’d see in toy stores. Even like a prototype gun that he was asked to test while he was still learning how to use a gun. Blinking his head, the young man tilted his head as he tested the trigger to ensure that it would even work. There was a small click but he couldn’t be sure if that was good or not. “You don’t need to inspect the guns Cav, they’re checked every day!” Vinnie said with a chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>“Habit actually.”</p><p> </p><p>“Huh? What you know how to use a gun or something?” Vinnie joked.</p><p> </p><p>“Actually I do.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie stopped laughing and just blinked at him in confusion. It seemed that this was something that he hadn’t expected to say the least. Did it really surprise people that he knew how to use a gun? It made no sense to the blonde but he just merely shrugged. “I was taught at a young age, my parents both know how to use a gun and said that a true man of the Cavendish-line learns how to use a gun.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie looked a little uncomfortable. It made Balthazar a little confused as he was about to say something till the shorter man’s smile returned as he wrapped his arm around the taller man’s shoulders. Making Balthazar hunch forward a little before saying “Come on, let’s hurry up. Crystal and Blade are waiting on us. We’re on the red team, they’re on the blue team. Be prepared, Crystal really likes red and she will get a little mad.” With that, they started to make their way to the arena.</p><p> </p><p>Or, at least it was meant to be one.</p><p> </p><p>There were ramps, tunnels, monkey bars, ect. It was as if this was meant to be some kind of battle field but without the risk of getting seriously hurt. Looking over at Vinnie, he saw the man giddy with excitement. Balthazar wanted to smile at the sight but reframed himself from doing so. Not wanting to seem like he was happy when Vinnie was. Fearing that it would give the wrong impression.</p><p> </p><p>Checking his gun once again, he looked up and saw Crystal’s expression had shifted from one of unamusement to one of twisted glee and excitement.  “Um… Dakota?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah Cavendish?”</p><p> </p><p>“Why does Crystal look like that?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes as he looked up and saw that Crystal’s shoulders were trembling as she let out an evil laugh. It was enough to disturb Balthazar as he started to think that Crystal may have turned bad or even cruel for a moment. Though the curly haired man just chuckled. “Ah, that. Yeah, Crystal can get pretty excited even though guns aren’t her thing. Swords are more her thing but when it comes to her wanting to beat me in a game she can get a little competitive.”</p><p> </p><p>“Should I be afraid?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, only person she’ll be after is me. Blade on the other hand, he may go after you.” Vinnie said with a chuckle before adding “But if you really are good with a gun then you shouldn’t have any problems.” With that, Vinnie held up his gun and pretended to make a loading motion as he made a sound to make it seem like he was really cocking the gun with a grin on his face. “Let’s do this.” Vinnie said with a chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar rolled his eyes before he looked on as both Blade and Crystal went straight for hiding once the alarm went off. The young man was about to rush after them but then he felt something grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him into one of the tunnels as if to hide. “Don’t go rushing them. They don’t look it, but they know how to fight.” Vinnie calmly said.</p><p> </p><p>“They do?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yeah, sometimes I train with them but I’m more into hand to hand combat.” Vinnie said with a smile before looking over, trying to peek out of the tunnel to get an idea as to where Blade and Crystal could be. He mumbled something about them using the same tactic again. Though Balthazar wasn’t sure what it was that the two were gonna do in the meantime. “As for them, they like to practice with weapons.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, Blade knows how to use many weapons but Crystal again prefers swords.” Vinnie chuckled a little before peeking out once again and smirked. “Okay, we’re good, let’s try to get to higher ground. Crystal has trouble with aiming when it comes to guns.” Vinnie grabbed a hold of Balthazar’s hand as he dragged him out of the tunnel and up one of the many ramps to get to what could be better described as a ‘tower’ if that makes sense.</p><p> </p><p>Looking around, Balthazar saw that the tower had a few means of escaping. One was through a pole like what a firemen would use, one was some kind of metal bar that you would latch onto as it would slide you down to safety. Made him think of those spy movies his sister had made him watch. Though if anything the means of escape made him think they would only put you in more danger depending on the person’s aim.</p><p> </p><p>“Keep a look out Cav, they’ll be getting ready to aim and hit us!” Vinnie said with a chuckle as he looked around. His body trembling with excitement, most likely because he wasn’t playing a game alone this time around. That he actually had someone that was on his team. That was something that was rather weird but at the same time he was happy that Vinnie was happy. Smiling a bit himself, the young man looked around and had his gun in his hands, getting ready to strike the moment the need arose.</p><p> </p><p>“Got Blade in my sights.” Whispered Vinnie as he shot and a ding was heard. Blade cursed to himself as he glared up at Vinnie. “Sorry Blade, you snooze you lose!”</p><p> </p><p>Though Blade soon had a big grin on his face and that seemed to have made the dark haired man smirk brightly. It seemed that Vinnie was a little confused as to why Blade was grinning up like that. Then, the blonde as well as the curly haired man blinked as they looked over and saw Crystal. She had a crazed look on her face, as if she had already won this battle. “You’re going down Vinnie! This battle is <em>mine!”</em> That seemed to have made Vinnie jump a little as he whipped his head as he looked over and cried out “Look out Cavendish!”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar was a little confused before looking over. There he saw Crystal aiming her gun at the red circle on the blonde’s chest and took aim. Before the blonde could even react with his own gun to shoot, he felt Vinnie give him a shove, causing the young blonde to yelp out in shock as he rolled down the ramp, even had himself rolled up in a ball in order to protect himself from the fall.</p><p> </p><p>Once he stopped rolling, Balthazar found his breathing starting to quicken. His heartrate also increasing as his eyes slowly widened. His mind was being enveloped in a fog as he trembled like a leaf.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The snow was blowing, whipping at his coat and chilled him to the bone. He was traveling through the harsh winter with his family. All of them having decided on going out and about as a means of some kind of family gathering so to speak yet it seemed that nothing was going according to plan. Everyone was after all miserable.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Taking a deep breath, the young man shivered a little from the cold. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>He never knew that it could be this cold, but now he did. It was thanks to this so called ’gathering’ for their family was just a nightmare if he was honest.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Turning his gaze, he saw that everyone was still struggling behind him. He couldn’t believe that they had all wanted to even go out instead of staying in their cabin in the first place. It would have been better, but no they had insisted in going out and about to try to explore their surroundings. Letting out a soft sigh, the young man looked back on ahead as he tried to find a way that would allow them to return to the cabin without any issues.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Slipping on the snow here and there, the young man just wanted to return to the cabin. Even return to their home so he could be with his lover again. That was the only thing that he wanted… to be with the man that he loved more than anyone else in the whole world.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Breathing deeply, the young man looked back up at the sky as he tried to think on what would take to get them all to go back home. To allow him to go back on toward his home and sighed softly when he thought it was never meant to be. Looking up at the sky once again, the smile had grown on his face as he felt like the sun was reflecting the smile of his lover. Allowing him to feel a warmth within his chest as he thought about the man who held his heart in his hands.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Though he couldn’t help but feel something wrong in that moment. He felt something shoving against his shoulder. Making him slip on the snowy hill as he found himself falling down the hill. Everything had felt like it was going in slow motion for the young man. Balthazar blinked as he looked up at the person that had shoved him. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>It was the face of his father that had shoved him. His face twisted in a cruel and twisted grin grew on his father’s face. Telling Balthazar that something was wrong with his father, he’s never seen this expression on his father before. It made chills go through his body that was worse than the chilly winter winds. Yet, as he fell he swore that he saw something just standing behind his father.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>There, a shadowy figure stood behind his father that gave a smile so eerily similar. Yet he saw the shadow’s lips moving, as if he was trying to say something but Balthazar couldn’t hear what the shadow was trying to say.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Balthazar couldn’t see the shadow anymore as he rolled down the hill. Trying to find something to grab onto as he tried to stop himself from falling off of the mountain himself. Or even hitting a rock or a tree. Anything to get himself to slow down though he couldn’t be sure as to what it was that would get him to slow down.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Nothing helped, he couldn’t find anything to grab onto to stop his decent down the hill.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Crying out in shock and pain, snow hitting his face and he swore that there had been a couple little stones that had cut up his face a little. Not enough to leave any permanent damage but enough for him to feel the harsh sting. The pain was hitting him hard, as he kept rolling and rolling down the hill until he felt a sharp and excruciating amount of pain hitting his chest in that moment.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Letting out a choked up breath, Balthazar looked down as he saw that he had indeed stopped.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Impaled on a tree.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>His breath was coming out in shorter gasps, he felt something filling up his lung in that moment. Yes, Balthazar knew that his lung was filling with his blood and making it harder and harder for him to breathe. Turning his head as best as he could, he hoped and prayed that his family would be coming down to help him, to take him to some kind of a doctor in the hopes that they would be able to help him. Yet what he saw just broke his heart.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>For, the young man’s family was still walking the path that they had been following…</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Thus, ignoring him.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Tears built in his eyes as he saw that his family was ignoring him. Coughing, blood spluttering past his lips as he looked back down at the tree. A sad smile gracing his lips in that moment as he thought how he wasn’t going to get out of this alive. That he wouldn’t be returning to the man that holds his heart. Looking up at the sky, a sad yet teary smile growing on his face as he whispered “I’m sorry… my love… I’m so sorry.” His eyes slowly started to close, humming the song that his lover wrote for him as he breathed his last breath.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish! Cavendish can you hear me?!” shouted Vinnie as he shook the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>The mental fog was starting to clear from him, looking around at his surroundings as he could make out the faint yet blurred images of Vinnie, Blade and Crystal all looking down at him. Blinking slowly, the young man couldn’t help but wonder what had happened in the first place. All he could do was groan as he covered his face, only to feel the tear tracks that had formed down his cheeks. Again? He was crying in… whatever that event even was.</p><p> </p><p>“Guys, back up! Come on, back the fuck up. Give the man some fucking space!” Crystal hissed as she shoved the guys aside as she helped Balthazar up onto his feet. The young man whined a little as he rubbed at his forehead, shakily standing on his feet as he leaned against Crystal. How the hell was she able to keep him standing when he towered over her? “You gonna be okay?” asked Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>“I… I dunno.” Balthazar whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish, do you want some tea? I’ll go get you some tea. Crystal can you keep an eye on him?” Vinnie asked with a frown on his face. Concern was lacing his words from what Balthazar could make out from the man.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I’ll take him back to his trailer, Blade go with Vinnie so he doesn’t do anything stupid.” Crystal calmly said as she started to walk with the blonde back toward the trailers.</p><p> </p><p>It was going to be a bit of a long walk.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar sighed softly before trying to keep himself standing. The dizzy feeling was starting to pick up again though he managed to fight that off. Breathing deeply, the young man placed a hand on his forehead as he tried to think on what had just happened. It just didn’t make sense to him that he would suddenly have another one of those moments of his. Letting out a shuddering breath, the young man tried to think on what had happened, or what had even triggered it.</p><p> </p><p>“You gonna talk about those visions of yours? They’re making you lose sleep and acting weird.” Crystal pointed out, causing the blonde to stare at her in shock.  Before he could even ask, the young woman merely rolled her eyes as she asked “Do you know what an empath is?”</p><p> </p><p>“Someone that can sense and respond to the emotions of others?” Balthazar mumbled softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Correct. That’s what I am, I can sense your emotions and could tell that something was up from the beginning of your time with us.” Crystal calmly explained as she looked up at the blonde that she held onto. The young woman just stared at him, as if trying to calculate what to say next or even what he was going to say. Balthazar couldn’t help but blink down at her, how was it that she could sense so much from him and yet he was just staring at her.</p><p> </p><p>“Then… why hadn’t you said anything before?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Wasn’t my business to get involved. But when it concerns Vinnie’s feelings, I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe.” Crystal calmly answered as she looked away.</p><p> </p><p>“His feelings? Why do you care about his-“</p><p> </p><p>“Because he’s pretty much like my brother.” Crystal calmly answered.</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>“I was orphaned, never knew my mom and my dad died when I was little. So, Vinnie’s family took me in and raised me. I was pretty much the sister he never had growing up so, I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe. Just like how he would for me.” Crystal explained before taking a deep breath as she looked up at him as she asked “Now, what does Vinnie know about these visions or dreams or whatever?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned a little at that. To be honest, he hadn’t really told Vinnie about much of anything. Only thing he knew about was maybe a dream of the song being played in the dream. As if it was nothing more than a gift to the man that Balthazar was in the dream. Then the dream of him falling through a lake of ice. It didn’t make much sense to him, but he hoped that it wouldn’t happen again but sadly he keeps getting those dreams or visions or whatever they were.</p><p> </p><p>Looking away, it seemed that was the only answer that Crystal needed. “I see, do you want to talk about them then Cavendish? I can listen if it gets too much for you.” The young woman offered.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t want Dakota to-“</p><p> </p><p>“He won’t know, I won’t tell him if that’s what you’re worried about.” Crystal replied, causing the blonde to look down at her in confusion. The young woman just smiled at him before saying “I know enough when people don’t want to share, but if you are willing to share I won’t tell Vinnie anything. I’m sure that I can help.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yet you hate me.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t hate you, I told you that.” Crystal said with a soft sigh before rubbing at her face with a groan. Taking a deep breath, the young woman shifted her hold on the blonde as she looked up and saw that they had arrived at the trailers already. Grinning, she helped the man up to the trailer as she added “It doesn’t have to be tonight. Just rest for now if you want, I’m sure Vinnie will have some good tea for you to relax with before going to sleep.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.” Balthazar calmly said before making his way inside his trailer.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe he’ll take Crystal up on that offer, he wanted to get over the dreams, the visions, whatever it was… and he wanted to share with someone and knew he couldn’t tell his sister or Vinnie for that matter. Would Crystal be the person to talk to about these dreams? He wasn’t sure but… couldn’t hurt right?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yeah, I have Crystal as an empath, hoping you still like the idea and what do you think the blip was on the device?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. A Day Out, Gone Bad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar is talking to Crystal about his dreams only for him and Vinnie to go out for a nice time out at a deli. Only for this to go bad for the two in a way that neither expected.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So, you’ve been having dreams about people’s deaths or just random visions?” Crystal asked as she blinked at Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde had shared with Crystal about the dreams. What had happened and so on, though he had kept parts of it to himself almost afraid of what the dreams would say about himself. It made him scared if he was honest and he didn’t want Vinnie to know about that. Rubbing at his face, the young man calmly said “I know that they shouldn’t mean anything but it feels like I’ve experienced those dreams before in some way.”</p><p> </p><p>Crystal let out a soft hum as she crossed her arms while leaning back in her seat. The young woman seemed as if she was thinking on what she was to do. “What was the strangest thing you’ve had from these dreams?” asked Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I had a vision from when Dakota gave me back my pocket watch when it was stolen and when I handed Dakota his gold chain-“</p><p> </p><p>“Wait what? You handed him his gold chain? He never takes that off…”</p><p> </p><p>“I um… I thought he was in danger so I ran to his trailer and kicked in his door and Dakota was in nothing but a towel sweeping up feathers-“</p><p> </p><p>“Feathers?” Crystal questioned, sounding a little concerned.</p><p> </p><p>“Mhm, I’m surprised there were feathers. Does he have a bird or something?” asked Balthazar. Then of course he was confused as to why he wasn’t sneezing since he was allergic to feathers. Yet wasn’t sneezing at all about the feathers. He still had to do that test but… he kind of kept forgetting.</p><p> </p><p>“No, no he doesn’t.” She replied before looking a little irritated. Why was she mad? Didn’t seem like it was directed at him so that had to mean something right? Tilting his head, the young man was about to ask more about the feathers till Crystal waved her hand at him saying “What else did you experience?”</p><p> </p><p>“When I was sick, I guess I had a dream about me being with some man who sang a beautiful song for me. We were in a music hall in I guess my home? Or at least it was my home in the dream, he had me play piano, didn’t share the lyrics with me till I heard it. I guess I was mumbling the lyrics in my sleep.” Balthazar calmly said with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Music…” Crystal whispered before shaking her head. It seemed that she was getting an idea though at the same time Balthazar couldn’t really be sure as to what it was that she was thinking. There had to be something wrong with him to be having these dreams or visions or whatever. “Cavendish, back on the bus when Vinnie woke you up, what were you dreaming to have had you crying?”</p><p> </p><p>He flinched a little at that one. It seemed like the worse one to be honest and he wasn’t even sure why that was. It made the young man feel like he was going to have another dream like it sometime soon but at the same time there hadn’t been another dream like that so he had to be grateful for that one right? Looking up at the woman sitting across from him, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit better now that he was at least sharing his problems with someone.</p><p> </p><p>Even though Vinnie was reading a book further away from them on the bus. Though at the same time he was using headphones so he couldn’t hear them. Turning back to Crystal, he calmly said “During the dream, I was walking down the street with someone. Just chatting among ourselves and just well, happy.” He lowered his gaze before biting his lip and wringing his hands in nervousness. “Afterwards, we were attacked in a way. But instead of getting beaten up, the person shot the man that was with me in the dream, and then shot me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Shot you…” Crystal whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I was still alive in the dream but couldn’t move. After that I felt someone holding me, I think he was begging me not to leave him. I kept thinking about how I didn’t want to leave him that I would try to be with him in some way no matter what may come my way. The only thing I couldn’t do was see the man’s face though or if it was the same person or someone else.” Balthazar sighed softly before rubbing at his face, his hand trembling as he whispered “I think that was why I was crying in the dream because I was leaving someone I loved in the dream?”</p><p> </p><p>“So let me get this straight about the dreams involving deaths.” Crystal whispered, her tone sounding serious. “You drowned in an icy lake.” A nod. “You fell down an icy mountain and was impaled on a tree.” Another nod. “And of course, you were shot and left for dead while being held before you finally died.” A third nod.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal lowered her gaze for a moment as she rubbed at her face in deep thought. Balthazar wasn’t sure what she was thinking about and honestly, he was even wondering if she truly was an empath. Yes, there have been signs lately such as her seeming to know what he was feeling even more so when he came to when at the laser tag, she yelled at Blade and Vinnie to get away from him as if he was panicking because of them rather than anything else.</p><p> </p><p>But he just wasn’t sure if that was the case. It had felt like there was more to it than that, but he couldn’t be sure. “I am an empath Cavendish, wonder why I seemed so competitive back at laser tag when I normally don’t appear so?” She asked.</p><p> </p><p>“I was rather curious about that.</p><p> </p><p>“I was feeling all of the energy that was entrapped within the room. Because of that I was reflecting that, so thus I became insanely competitive for the game.” Crystal calmly said with a shrug before letting out a soft sigh. “Now, I’m not a hundred percent sure as to what this is but, I do have an idea as to what is going on with you but at the same time I don’t want to share that yet. More so since I highly doubt that it’s true.” He had a feeling that she didn’t want to share it because it was too much but nothing was too much for him.</p><p> </p><p>“I want to hear it.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, you don’t.” Crystal calmly said before looking over and blinked over at Blade and Vinnie as both men were getting themselves ready to get off of the bus. “What are you guys doing?” asked Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie grinned as he said “The bus is stopping here today. So, I was thinking about trying that deli that’s nearby. Cav you wanna come with?”</p><p> </p><p>“That does sound nice actually, I am rather hungry.” Which was true, since this morning he hadn’t eaten anything, having been rather caught up with his chat with Crystal and hadn’t had a chance to eat breakfast, or even lunch for that matter. “How far of a walk is it?” he asked.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just grinned, it seemed that he was just happy that Balthazar accepted the invitation to go out to eat at a deli. Though he just hoped that they would have something that he himself could enjoy and eat. Maybe even have some tea.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal though just gave a look of concern toward both men.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked over at Vinnie as they both started to walk down the street. The young man couldn’t help but stare at the state of dress that Vinnie had right now. He decided to wear a tracksuit, something that had confused the blonde that the shorter man would even bother wearing. It just seemed rather odd that he would even wear something like that in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Of all the things that he would wear, it had to be a track suit when he was a famous singer and chose to wear… that of all things? It just didn’t make sense to Balthazar. Then again, almost everything about Vinnie didn’t make sense to him. That was what made all of this so confusing.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but ask his question, desire for information surfacing. “Why do you insist on wearing a tracksuit? There had to have been a better outfit for you to have chosen to wear.” Vinnie blinked a little as he looked up at the blonde next to him. It was as if his question had caught him off guard, though it didn’t seem to have offended the shorter man to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie folded his arms behind his head as he calmly said “Well, figured that if we are going to go to a deli, in public that you wouldn’t want people to know who I was and distract us while we’re just trying to eat.” Balthazar just blinked his eyes in confusion before looking at the man, just trying to figure out what it was that had been said. That, kind of made sense. He wouldn’t want anyone to bother them just to get a sight of Vinnie Dakota, when they are just trying to enjoy a nice outing for the two friends.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, he saw the shorter man digging around his suit trying to find something. Whatever it was, it had to have been important in some way. “Aw man!” Vinnie whined, causing Balthazar to raise an eyebrow at the man in confusion. “I left my wallet in my other tracksuit.”</p><p> </p><p>“Other tracksuit? Just how many do you have?”</p><p> </p><p>“Really? I have like, six of these puppies.” Vinnie replied.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you wear on Sundays then?” He was almost afraid of the answer, having already seen Vinnie in nothing but a towel. Though had just assumed that it had been nothing more than him just trying to clean up after a shower. Though he also couldn’t really be sure if that would have been the case as well. Turning his gaze to stare at the pathway ahead, he didn’t want to face Vinnie when he would get his answer.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie chuckled a little as he answered with a “Not much” before covering his hand with his face. Chuckling as if he sensed Balthazar’s discomfort right now. He wanted to slap Vinnie upside the head or something, though had to restrain himself. Knowing that if he slapped Vinnie that he may end up using far too much force and knock him over or just end up hurting him much more than he intended.</p><p> </p><p>So, he’ll settle for this instead. “I’ll pay this time around. You can pay the next time if that works, just make sure you have your wallet next time.” Balthazar said with a slight scolding tone to his voice but it had a hint of humor he believed in it. The young man didn’t know if Vinnie would even think of it that way, though he just hoped and prayed that Vinnie wouldn’t think he was trying to talk down to him like he was nothing more than a child.</p><p> </p><p>Instead…</p><p> </p><p>“Awesome! I promise, I’ll double check to make sure that I have my wallet next time! I promise that you won’t regret this!” Vinnie had a big smile on his face, yet for some reason Balthazar felt like that he was going to be paying a lot more for their meals at this point. Despite the fact that Vinnie made a lot more money than Balthazar since his pay was small due to all of his past screw ups.</p><p> </p><p>“Man, I still can’t believe that I left my wallet behind. Crystal normally reminds me but she must have been distracted.”</p><p> </p><p>Hm, that was something that he wanted to ask. He knew what Crystal felt toward Vinnie, but he wanted to know what Vinnie had felt toward her. They spent enough time together, but at the same time he felt like there was so much more to it than what was being said, and he wasn’t sure what it was but he felt something swirling around in the pit of his stomach at the thought of it being something else.</p><p> </p><p>“What is it that you feel toward Crystal?”</p><p> </p><p>“Huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“You heard me, what do you feel toward Crystal.” Balthazar asked, that sickening feeling kept swirling around in the pit of his stomach. Making him feel… well he wasn’t sure what it was that he felt about this whole thing, only that he felt like that this was something that he shouldn’t have felt in the first place, yet he did.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie though chuckled a little at the blonde before him. “Dude, Crystal is like my sister.” Balthazar blinked. “She had no home, I found her near my home and got my parents. Once she was healthy enough she started to live with me and my family, ended up becoming my sister. We grew up together, looking out for each other and she looked out for me to make sure I wouldn’t do something stupid.”</p><p> </p><p>“Didn’t seem to have worked since you still do reckless things now and again.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not that often.”</p><p> </p><p>“You risk your life for mine.”</p><p> </p><p>“Your Cavendish, what can I do? Just let you die or get hurt? Nah, I can’t do that Cav! You’re my friend and I care about you, nothing will change that!” Vinnie said with a big grin on his face. The smile was so bright, making him think of the sun itself with how radiant it is. His heart was even beating quickly in his chest as he tried to think on what was going on with him in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man looked away, a faint blush staining his cheeks as he said “I’m not that important.”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t say that! You are totally important!” Vinnie said, grabbing a hold of Balthazar’s face between his hands and pulled him down, narrowing his eyes. “Don’t you ever say that again! You are always important, you have people who care about you Cavendish! People who love you, your sister for example! She loves you and would never want anything to happen to you!” Balthazar blinked as he felt the blood rushing up his neck to his cheeks. How it was that Vinnie could talk to him like that? As if he truly mattered when somedays, he felt like he didn’t?</p><p> </p><p>It didn’t make sense to him, but Balthazar couldn’t help but feel touched.</p><p> </p><p>Looking away, the young man slowly nodded as best as he could before taking a deep breath. “I think we have arrived at the deli.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes as he looked over and saw that they had indeed arrived. Releasing his hold over the blonde’s face as he took a deep breath before saying “Let’s get some food! I’m starving!” Vinnie rushed on inside, and it had Balthazar a little curious as to what had just happened. Why did Vinnie… say all of that? It didn’t make sense, yet at the same time he wanted to try to understand but wasn’t sure if he could understand it all. Though he felt like he wasn’t going to understand, and it would bother him for a while. Taking a deep breath, the young man started to walk inside the deli, just wanting to get something to eat and take his mind off of what had just happened.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie had ordered a few limburger cheese sandwiches. They smelled terrible, and wondered how anyone could even order something like that in the first place. It made the blonde curious and baffled that anyone would ever want to order something like that in the first place. It just made no sense to him, but couldn’t really question it as he let out a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>He ordered himself a simple turkey sandwich, nothing special about it though he just gave himself a mental shrug. Honestly, he was just trying to get through the day in this deli. He would have preferred just going to a nice tea shop and have some jasmine tea but, he wanted to ensure that Vinnie would enjoy this day more than anything else.</p><p> </p><p>“So, what are your parents like?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Hm?” Balthazar blinked as he looked up, about to take a bite of his sandwich.</p><p> </p><p>“What are your parents like?” Vinnie repeated, having taken another bite of his sandwich.</p><p> </p><p>“They are rather strict.” Balthazar answered before lowering his eyes. “With me, they made sure that I studied hard. Studying law, music, and in their work as well. I didn’t mind what they did for a living, it was what I wanted to be after all.” The blonde said with a small frown on his face. Sure, he didn’t mind learning to be a paranormal hunter, but when it came to everything else he hated it. And had not wanted to get himself to learn anything else but to be a hunter. Had done what he could to learn nothing else in the world.</p><p> </p><p>“What about with your sister?” asked Vinnie after he took another bite of his food. Balthazar wanted to wince in disgust at how the man before him would eat. It didn’t make sense to him on how the man could be polite, but so disgusting at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>“To be honest, with Zoey they weren’t as strict with her.” The blonde replied as he let out a soft sigh. “Because Zoey was both, the youngest and only girl she was a tad spoiled but not overly so-“</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, aren’t girls very common in your family?” asked Vinnie after he swallowed his food.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, the young man looked up at Vinnie before lowering his gaze once again. “That is true, but as the only male and heir to the fortune they wanted me to study as hard as I can so I can better prepare myself for the future.” He gave a small shrug as he added “With Zoey, she is to marry the man that is chosen for her and, whom will also take the family name rather than her take his family name as we do not have many people with the Cavendish name.” Balthazar explained before looking down at his food with a soft sigh. Feeling a bit of defeat swirling within him in that moment. “With me, I am to wed someone my parents had chosen, someone that is a proper lady, who will stand by my side and whatnot.”</p><p> </p><p>“So, pretty much you have to marry some snob of a woman that will help carry on your family line and pretty much do as you say?” Vinnie mumbled blandly before taking another bite of his food as he added “How far back in the stone ages are your parents?”</p><p> </p><p>“Very.” Answered Balthazar as he looked up at the shorter man as he asked “What about you? What about your parents?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie chuckled a little as he happily took another bite of his food. “Well, my parents were happy and loving. No matter if they took Crystal in, then Blade-“</p><p> </p><p>“Wait what? Blade as well?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, Blade was also found on my family land. Though he was pretty badly hurt, took him a few months to recover properly. Crystal was his nurse.” He chuckled a little as he leaned closer, as if he was about to reveal a great secret. “Don’t tell Crystal or Blade I said this but Blade has a thing for Crystal. Has for years, he just doesn’t want to tell her anything about what he feels, because of how Crystal is he thinks that she would just reject him which he doesn’t want to hear.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s complicated.” Vinnie replied with a sad chuckle before sitting back in his seat. Taking another bite of his food before saying “As for my parents, they were tough but fair with me growing up. I was loved, scolded when I deserved it though were also fair.” Vinnie had a sad smile on his face, which made Balthazar kind of concerned. He could even see the build of tears behind his eyes and it made the blonde want to reach out and wipe away any tears that would dare fall.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?” Balthazar called out softly, afraid of what the man was going to do next. Or at least, afraid of him falling apart in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, it’s still fresh for me.”</p><p> </p><p>“What is?” Balthazar was afraid of knowing the answer. He had a sinking feeling that he knew what it was that had happened. But, the blonde wasn’t sure if he was even going to be right about it in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>“My parents died a while ago. It was brutal, and I just ran… Crystal and Blade dragged me away to safety, never went back and I never saw my parents again.” Vinnie whispered softly, biting his lip as he tried to keep himself from crying out. No matter how much time went on, Balthazar knew that the pain was still fresh for Vinnie, watching your parents die had to have been so hard on him. Though, he knew that it had to have taken place in another country or state as he hadn’t heard of a murder like that…</p><p> </p><p>Reaching out, Balthazar carefully patted Vinnie’s hand before grasping it, lacing his fingers through Vinnie’s own in a comforting gesture. Which seemed to have surprised the man as he looked up with wide eyes. “I don’t understand the pain of losing parents as both of mine are still around but…” He bit his lower lip a little while trying to think of the right words, not wanting to seem that he was being insensitive. “But, I can understand the pain and the trauma.” For the most part he could… the dreams were scary for sure seeing people’s deaths.</p><p> </p><p>The shorter man just gave a small smile before saying “Thanks Cav, I needed some kind of comfort.” He chuckled a little before pulling his hand back as he started to eat his food. At least Balthazar could comfort Vinnie a little, that had to mean something right?</p><p> </p><p>Going back to his sandwich, the young man couldn’t help but notice how people in the room were now starting to notice the two men. Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little as he saw a few women even starting to walk toward them.</p><p> </p><p>One girl got rather close to Vinnie, and tried to show off her chest to him. Vinnie though just gave a polite smile as he tried to tell her that he was having lunch with a friend. The other girl, ran a hand through Vinnie’s hair which made him tremble a little. Balthazar narrowed his eyes as he saw the scene before him. A weird feeling started to swirl in the pit of his stomach before he finished his sandwich and pushed himself up onto his feet.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota, let’s go shall we? I think it is best if we made our way back before we get chewed out by your sister.” He hadn’t really told a lie, though just wanted to get the man away from these women.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes innocently before he smiled. “Yeah, you’re right.” He agreed before shoving the rest of his sandwich into his mouth and swallowed. “Sorry ladies, but I must go.” Vinnie said with a chuckle before pushing himself up onto his feet as he started to make his way toward the door with Balthazar, leaving two whining women behind.</p><p> </p><p>Once they were outside, the young man looked over at Vinnie as he all but glared at him. “You seemed to have been enjoying their attention.” Balthazar accused.</p><p> </p><p>“What? No, don’t get me wrong they were beautiful and all but I have eyes for one person only and…” Vinnie slowly trailed off, looking down at the ground as he let out a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“And what?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t want to pursue anything with them. I’ve gone through enough pain when it comes to love.” Vinnie whispered with a sigh as he dug his hands into his pockets. Balthazar was kind of baffled. Vinnie was all about romance novels and the like and yet he didn’t want to try to find love? Again? It didn’t make sense to him, though it made the young man curious as to what was going on in the man’s head. There had to be something that had happened to allow this to have happened.</p><p> </p><p>Biting his lower lip, the young man asked “Why is that? You read romance novels and love the idea of romance but you… don’t wish to pursue one yourself? That seems rather odd to me.” Balthazar frowned a little at the man next to him, trying to think on what he was to say about that. About what he wanted to ask more about it though he wasn’t sure if he would even get the answer he so desired in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie, looked up at Balthazar with a frown before looking away. A sadness overcoming his expression before he let out a soft sigh. “I’ve gone through so much pain Cav, no matter what I do when it comes to love there is always something that gets in the way of my happiness and tears it away from me.” He looked up at the blonde, Vinnie’s eyes are now empty, and void of all emotion.</p><p> </p><p>It was rather unnerving and Balthazar felt like a stone had just tumbled into his stomach at the sight of such a scene.</p><p> </p><p>“I gave up on love this time around. Four times of pain, of suffering and loss… I won’t go through that again. Not if the person I love will only be harmed again because of me.” Vinnie whispered, yet his voice almost sounded choked up as he spoke. “I… I just can’t. I can’t do it again, people I love leave me in one way or another.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar narrowed his eyes at that. There is no way that this was the same man that he cared for. Vinnie was vibrant and full of life and love among other things. To see him act like this, so empty and void of life and love? It made Balthazar’s heart ache at the sight of such a thing. Frowning, he reached forward and wrapped his arms around the man, wanting to comfort him as best as he could. Vinnie though stiffened in the blonde’s grasp, as if he wasn’t expecting this to have even happened in the first place. “Cavendish?” Vinnie’s muffled voice called out.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota, you have a right to be happy. You should be allowed to love who you want to love, you aren’t cursed. Just had some rotten luck, I know how much rotten luck I’ve had.” He patted Vinnie’s head, hoping to bring some form of comfort to the man though he wasn’t sure what he could say to the man otherwise. Patting the shorter man’s head once again, Balthazar pulled back as he gave a small smile to Vinnie. “You may be lazy, far too lax and a snack hound.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hey!”</p><p> </p><p>“But you are loyal to a fault. That is admirable for sure and you have a right to be happy. Just as how you’ve been showering people with your music and kindness thus far.” Balthazar pointed out with a smile on his face before pointing out “After all, if you hadn’t gone to the shelter-“</p><p> </p><p>“You following me in the process.”</p><p> </p><p>“I wouldn’t have adopted Peaches.” Balthazar finished though had a hint of a glare when Vinnie had brought up the whole, Balthazar following him thing, but for the time being he was just trying to comfort the man before him. That was the only thing that he wanted to do, his heart still felt heavy knowing that Vinnie was even going through all of this pain, yet at the same time he wasn’t sure what he could do to help his friend.</p><p> </p><p>“I think you would have found another bunny eventually.” Vinnie’s muffled voice replied before he pushed himself back and chuckled a little up at the man before him. It seemed that he hadn’t expected Balthazar’s concern but he at least didn’t look empty. He had a smile on his face again, and his eyes were filled with life once again. It was rather amazing, though it was baffling. He wanted to say more to the man before him, but was unsure as to what he could say to the man.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked away as he said “Maybe, but I still thank you for helping me find the bunny in the end. That is all that matters. If anyone deserves happiness in love, it is you.” Vinnie blinked his eyes owlishly before looking down at the ground. It seemed that he hadn’t expected those words from the taller man. Though Balthazar couldn’t help but voice his own opinions. If anyone deserved to be happy it was Vinnie for sure.</p><p> </p><p>Everything that he does for people? It made the blonde know that he deserved to be happy and that was the only thing that should matter. The only thing that would ever matter in the long run. Yet, Vinnie was holding himself back from allowing himself to tell the person he loved how he felt or something of the sort. There had to be something that he could do to help Vinnie though he couldn’t be sure as he had no idea who it was in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Before anything else could have been said, Balthazar saw someone walking toward them. He just tilted his head a little before thinking that maybe the man was just going to walk past them. Though something caught the blonde’s eye. He could see something glistening in the faint light of the sun. He had no idea how long they had been in the deli for, but knew that it was still bright outside and, of course that there was no one else around them right now.</p><p> </p><p>Releasing his hold on Vinnie, Balthazar pushed the man behind him as he tried to find a means of escaping from this. There wasn’t a lot of ways for him to escape with Vinnie, but he wouldn’t leave him alone. Then of course there was his hand to hand combat wasn’t all that great though he could use a gun without a problem.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, he didn’t think that he could use this gun because it could expose himself as a paranormal hunter to Vinnie and he couldn’t do that. (Mostly since some of his bullets could explode if he used it) “Cav? What’s going on?” asked Vinnie with confusion in his voice.</p><p> </p><p>“I think that guy is going to try to mug us, just try to stay calm.” Balthazar whispered softly before backing Vinnie up against the wall. If he was going to protect his friend, he would have to do what he could to ensure Vinnie’s safety.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish, you can’t just block me in. We should just take this chance to run.”</p><p> </p><p>“True but he looks like he could easily keep up with us.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie hummed softly in deep thought before looking up at Balthazar before looking at the possible mugger as the (man?) started to get closer and closer. The blonde narrowed his eyes as he went to reach into his boot, hoping to grab his knife.</p><p> </p><p>No knife.</p><p> </p><p>Oh no. He must have left it in his trailer.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping a little, the young man looked up as he saw the cloaked figure was walking toward them. Though, something caught Balthazar’s view, he swore that he saw shadows dancing about the man. Shaking his head, he figured that maybe it was the scent of the limburger cheese that Vinnie ate messing with his mind. He couldn’t allow himself to be lost to a fantasy of dancing shadows. The mugger had a cruel smile on his face as he reached into his jacket and pulled out a knife. It was a long blade, almost made Balthazar think of a hunting knife but it could easily go through someone if they weren’t careful.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping a little, the blonde looked over and saw Vinnie was nervous though he couldn’t be sure if the nerves were for himself or if Vinnie was worried for Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing his eyes a little, he looked back at the mugger and saw that he was about to rush forward. Without thinking, Balthazar charged and grabbed a hold of the man’s wrist. Hoping to get him off guard. Trying to tighten his hold so he couldn’t lose this fight. Too much was at stake right now. “You won’t hurt him!” Shouted the blonde as he turned his body around and slammed his elbow into the mugger’s stomach.</p><p> </p><p>The mugger gasped out in pain and fell to the ground.</p><p> </p><p>That was… oddly easy.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, Balthazar looked up at Vinnie and saw the man sighing in relief. Well, seems like there is nothing to worry about now at the very least. Taking a deep breath, the young man started to walk on ahead toward Vinnie with a soft sigh escaping him. This was going to be a long and interesting chat for their friends at least.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, it was then he felt like time had slowed down as a burning pain hit him in that moment. “Cavendish!” shouted Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde’s eyes were wide as he looked down and saw the blade of the mugger’s knife poking out of his waist coat. Staining it in a deep crimson that was quickly pooling through his clothes. The knife poked out of his abdomen, just below his lung, or maybe at the bottom of his lung? He couldn’t be sure, slowly he looked over his shoulder as he saw the mugger looking at him.</p><p> </p><p>His smile was twisted and cruel. It made him think of the dream he had of being impaled from the tree. The smile he saw from the so called family member that had shoved him. (Among other dreams of course) For near the man’s head, he could see a shadow smiling cruelly at him and causing him to feel his breath hitch in that moment as blood spluttered past his lips.</p><p> </p><p>Falling to his knees, Balthazar found himself laying on the ground soon after as his blood started to pool around him. Making him think that he was going to die here.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish! Cavendish!” Shouted Vinnie, yet his voice sounded a little muffled for him. The man’s concerned eyes were wide as he stared at the bleeding man before narrowing his eyes into slits. A snarl ripped its way past Vinnie’s lips as he looked up at the man that had stabbed the blonde. “You’ll pay.” He snarled before jumping up and went to rush at him. Balthazar slowly reached up to grab Vinnie’s hand. Wanting to tell him to go, to leave him behind and go to get back to the trailer.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t see what Vinnie was doing, or what was happening. All he could hear was the sound of grunts and what could be better described as punches. Vinnie was shouting in anger and rage, something that he hadn’t thought to be possible.</p><p> </p><p>It had happened so quickly yet slowly at the same time. The young man blinked slowly as he saw Vinnie back in his field of vision once again though, was very blurred. Darkness danced at the edges of his sight as he let out a wheezing breath. Vinnie held onto Balthazar, tears in his eyes as he shouted to shout something but his voice was nothing more than a ringing in his ears at this point. It made Balthazar think that maybe this was it, that he was going to die now.</p><p> </p><p>That he would leave Vinnie alone and he wouldn’t be able to finish his mission.</p><p> </p><p>Though at the same time he couldn’t help but feel like this whole thing was oddly familiar to him in some way. Blinking slowly, he tried to speak, yet the words wouldn’t come out. Coughing, he wheezed a breath as he slowly started to close his eyes. Vinnie screaming and shouting at him to… something. He didn’t know, and he just wanted to sleep…</p><p> </p><p>Sleep sounded nice… yeah, it sounded real nice.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, the last thing that came to his mind, he swore that he felt a warmth hitting his lips and spreading throughout his body. It was warm and comforting… so very comforting.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>okay, I won't lie I kinda messed up something in the last chapter and didn't notice for a couple days so I'm working around it to make it work. Now, I won't say what it is because that may ruin the mystery unless you all figured it out. Let me know what you think of this, I'm already working on chapter 20, the big reveal is coming up though in a few chapters I believe.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Dream or Reality?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar has no idea if he's having a dream, or dealing with reality. Nothing is making sense, and its all blending together to the point that he just can't tell the difference. But, he does learn one truth and it shocks him.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>play when lyrics shows.</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXZ5eOBnVq0&amp;ab_channel=GoldenBoys</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I can’t believe you did that! Do you know what could have happened Vinnie?! You could have…” Voices echoed around his head. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. Balthazar wanted to open his eyes, wanted to move, wanted to do something but he was unable to do so. All he could feel was a slight warmth that spread out from somewhere on his abdomen, as it was much warmer there, while the warm would also spread out throughout his body.</p><p> </p><p>“I couldn’t just let him… I can’t… not…”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie’s voice sounded so broken. Balthazar wanted to reach out to the man, wanted to wrap his arms around him but was unable to do so. It had almost felt like he was trapped within his own body at the moment. Unable to do anything other than to listen to what they were saying.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re just lucky that I can…”</p><p> </p><p>Can what? Can what? What was she doing? What did Crystal do for him? It just didn’t make sense to him, why couldn’t he make out everything that was being said right now? It was as if his hearing would come and go and it made him want to shout at his own hearing for it defying him when he wanted to know what it was that was happening to him.</p><p> </p><p>Where was he anyway? He felt something nice and soft under him. It had almost felt like he was in bed, yet he felt the cushions under his back. What was going on?</p><p> </p><p>“Just please keep…”</p><p> </p><p>Keep what?! Keep what?! What was going on?! He wanted to know what was going on!</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The soft sound of heels clicking on the cement hit his ears. It made Balthazar think of someone wearing heels, the heels made him think of the times his mother would heels after she and his father would go to the opera or just gone out to dinner parties with other hunters.</em>
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  <em>His surroundings were dark, and he saw that he was alone.</em>
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  <em>He saw himself looking down, staring down at the pocket watch that was in his family but there was something wrong with what he was seeing. It was something that he knew for a fact was that he saw himself wearing a long flowing gown that sparkled a bright blue. Blue that made him think of Vinnie’s one eye. But why was he wearing a dress?! And heels?! What the devil was going on here? This didn’t make sense to him, it almost felt like he was having another one of his dreams right now.</em>
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  <em>“I should hurry and return home. I don’t want to keep him waiting for me, it took much longer than I thought it would at the gala.” He heard himself say, the voice was soft, gentle and rather feminine. Definitely a female’s voice. She quickened her pace while trying to shove her purse aside, holding the strap while trying to hurry toward her home.</em>
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  <em>“I just hope he’s still waiting for me.” She mumbled, only to smile while adding “Who am I kidding, he’s always waiting for me.” She giggled a little before looking at the time once again. Shoving the pocket watch into her purse as she made a turn. Wanting to take a short cut that would take the young woman back toward her home.</em>
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  <em>It had been a very long night, making her worry that she had kept her boyfriend waiting for far too long. Making her think, that he would have left if she knew that he would keep waiting for as long as it would take. She knew him enough to know though that he would get worried enough that he would go looking for her at some point and knew that it would end with him giving her a speech about how worried he was.</em>
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  <em>He was such a worry wart.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, he should be okay now. He’s stable, you should be lucky that he’s even alive right now!” Crystal all but shouted at… whoever.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>“But you can’t keep doing that. Do you know the risks that you put on yourself, you could have put yourself in danger by doing-“</p><p> </p><p>“So what?! Are you saying I should have just left him to-“</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not saying that at all!”</p><p> </p><p>It sounded a lot like Crystal and Vinnie are arguing? What are they arguing about in the first place? It didn’t make any kind of sense to him. And of course, why are they even arguing in the first place? He didn’t think that he had ever heard the two argue about anything before so that confused Balthazar. Then of course, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was part of his dream or not. It was rather confusing.</p><p> </p><p>A soft sigh escaped Crystal, she then let out a groan before saying “Look, I know what you feel Vinnie. But I’m also trying to look out for you as well. I don’t want you to get hurt again.”</p><p> </p><p>“I won’t get hurt again! I’ve sworn off of…”</p><p> </p><p>Again his voice started to trail off. Why did that keep happening in the first place? It just didn’t make sense to him and it made the blonde so confused. Was it due to his head feeling like it was still stuffed with cotton or was it something more than that? He couldn’t be sure, but knew that he wanted to talk to them, to ask them what it was that was happening in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>A groan escaped from Vinnie as he said “Look, something is going on here. The one that attacked us didn’t seem normal, there was something off about him but I don’t know what it was. I need help to understand…”</p><p> </p><p>Something wrong? What was wrong with that guy? With the mugger? There was more questions being brought up than any kind of answers for the man and that only made him all the angrier and made him want to shout. To scream, to well anything for the least.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t make promises that I’ll find anything. I’m only an empath…”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah but you are also…”</p><p> </p><p>Also what? What else could Crystal do? What was she able to do that would be able to give them any kind of answers to whatever it was that Vinnie was even talking about in the first place? He wanted to groan all the more, feeling like he was going to throw something… at least, if he could throw something.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The young woman found herself to be near her home. Though still quite a ways away from her destination. Humming softly, a tune that was so familiar yet held a hint of sadness to the tone. Balthazar couldn’t help but wonder what the song was, yet at the same time he felt like he knew what it was. It was as if his own memories and this woman’s blended together into one and that confused him.</em>
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  <em>She looked up and saw her apartment with a smile on her face. Giggling, she tried to pick up speed, wanting to hurry up and see her boyfriend before he would try to go out looking for her. Though before she could get far, the young woman saw a few people starting to surround her. It confused her, had her curious as to why these men were looking at her.</em>
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  <em>Their eyes were blank, void yet also had a weird hunger to their depths.</em>
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  <em>The young woman gulped a little, feeling nervous about the whole thing. It had her curious as to what was going on right now. A chill went up her spine as she stared at the men as they started to get closer and closer to her. The young woman started to back up and started to feel fear going up her spine before she started to make a break for it.</em>
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  <em>She ran as quickly as her legs could carry her, sadly it was away from her apartment. Yet, she wouldn’t be able to get away, wouldn’t be able to make her way out of this place, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to escape unless she could find a way to go around to make a break for her apartment but, at the same time she wouldn’t be able to make it as she was wearing heels and it was hard enough running in heels than it would be bare foot.</em>
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  <em>“Please, please let me get away!” She whimpered while trying to get as far away as possible. The young woman made a sharp turn in the hopes of trying to get away from this place. Trying to get away from the men, wanting to find a way to get her way to her home before she would be caught.</em>
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  <em>Tears started to stream down her face as she tried to think on what she could do. Of all the things that she couldn’t have learned growing up was how to fight back? Even her sister knew how to fight back and yet here she was, unable to defend herself properly for a moment such as this! Tears flowed down quicker down her face where they were like waterfalls going down her cheeks.</em>
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  <em>She was praying to any god that would listen to her, to give her some kind of hope that she could be saved right now. That she would have a chance to survive this.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“How is he?” asked Vinnie’s voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Same, he still hasn’t woken up but he’s still stable. Makes sense that he’ll be exhausted, he was stabbed after all.” Crystal replied with a soft sigh. He could almost picture her crossing her arms across her chest. Wait, was Crystal waiting for him to wake up? What about Vinnie? Had he been waiting around for Balthazar to wake up? Such as how he had looked after him when Balthazar was sick.</p><p> </p><p>A soft sigh seemed to have escaped Vinnie as the sound of footsteps hit his ears. What was he doing now? Where was he going? The sound was getting closer and closer to him so that made the young man rather curious as to where he was going. Though, the sound soon stopped causing Balthazar to want to listen carefully.</p><p> </p><p>“I feel terrible. I should have done something to have prevented it… but, Cavendish was the one to get hurt, I hadn’t warned him fast enough! But the mugger, he moved so quickly that I hadn’t had a change to tell him to move…” Vinnie whimpered a little, it made Balthazar want to reach out to him once again. Wanting to hold him and never let go. Wanting to just comfort the man because he was in so much deep emotional pain.</p><p> </p><p>Why did it have to hurt so much for him to hear this? To hear Vinnie be in so much pain? To know that he was hurting because he had felt guilt for not warning the blonde of the strike?</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie, you aren’t thinking about-“</p><p> </p><p>“How can I not?!” shouted Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar was even more confused now. Why would he be thinking about… whatever it was? What did it have to do with him? With his being attacked in the first place? It just didn’t make sense to him, but Balthazar hoped that maybe he could get the answers he seek when he could actually wake up! Or, assuming that this was real and not a dream. He was starting to lose what was real, and what was a dream.</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie… it’s been so long now, you need… to need to overcome this.”</p><p> </p><p>“I swear if you were telling me to be over it-“</p><p> </p><p>“No! I’d never tell you to be over something already, that’s cruel!” Crystal shouted.</p><p> </p><p>What was it that they were talking about? Not knowing was starting to drive him mad. Why? Why couldn’t he learn this? Why couldn’t he learn what was going on right now? Taking a deep breath, the young man just wanted to know what it was that was happening but he was unsure as to what it could be that was going to happen to himself, as well as Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>She found herself in the alley. Unsure how she had gotten herself turned around. There was no way that she could escape from this if they had her trapped. Turning around the young woman was about to make a break for it, hoping that she could be able to make a mad dash out of the alley and make her way to her apartment to get help. To get well, anything really.</em>
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  <em>Anything that would allow her to have some kind of freedom, but was unsure as to what it would be that would allow her to get away from everyone that would try to harm her. Or, at least that was what she was assuming that they were doing.</em>
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  <em>Though before she could even get half way out of the alley, the young woman saw the men slowly starting to make their way toward her. The young woman slowly started to back up, her eyes were wide with fear as she felt like her luck was running out on her. Making her think that the curse of the pocket watch was true after all. Everyone in her family that possessed this watch was cursed… and yet she had still wanted it.</em>
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  <em>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little at that one. He had seen her with a pocket watch but, hadn’t had a good enough look to see much of anything. The young man wanted to know what this woman was talking about. What it could have meant, but he wasn’t sure what more it could have been.</em>
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  <em>“Please, please leave me alone.” The woman spoke, causing Balthazar to shudder. Feeling the fear that was creeping up both of their spines at this point.</em>
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  <em>The men smirked as they slowly started to make their way toward her. The young woman kept pushing herself back until she felt her back pressing against the brick of the wall that was behind her. No, she couldn’t allow it to end this way. She had to fight back, had to do something at the very least but was unsure as to what she could do.</em>
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  <em>Before she could even think of anything, the men grabbed her. Ripping her dress, throwing her to the ground. The only sounds that anyone could hear for miles was the sounds of the woman screams. Screams for help, screams of begging and pleading while trying to get them to stop. To get them off of her but it mattered not what would happen to her.</em>
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  <em>But, it mattered not for no one would come to help her.</em>
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  <em>Yet, that was the least of her problems as the young woman would soon feel the burning pain of being stabbed. Over… and over again.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal is he okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know, he’s acting as if he’s in…”</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean by…?”</p><p> </p><p>What were they talking about now? What could have them sounding so worried or concerned? Balthazar tried to make something of himself move. Something, anything that would allow him to move. The young man tried to speak, his hand clenched into a tight fist before relaxing again. Trying to fight his way to get out of this.</p><p> </p><p>“Is he talking?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know.” Crystal calmly said with a frown.</p><p> </p><p><em>’I’m here! I’m awake! This… this is real right? Or am I dreaming?’</em> Now he didn’t know if he was dreaming or not. It all felt as if both dream and reality was starting to blend together for him at this point. It just made his head hurt all the more and wanted to groan and moan from the pain that was hitting him in this moment.</p><p> </p><p>“He could be asleep for a few more days.” Crystal’s voice called out to Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Days?! Had he really been asleep for days?! No, that was impossible, there is no way that he could have been asleep for days unless… was he in a hospital? Or was he just dreaming that he had been in some kind of coma? That this was nothing more than a dream? What was dream and what was a reality? He just didn’t know what was going on anymore and it was saddening to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>She was laying on the ground. Vision starting to leave her and come back in the span of her weakened heartbeat. The rain started to fall upon her. Making her think that there was something wrong with her. No, she knew what was happening right now. Her body, dirty, used… bloodied… and left for dead. She was also sure that she had broken bones that was preventing her from getting up to get help.</em>
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  <em>Her breath was very weak and shallow.</em>
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  <em>This was how she was going to die it seemed. Alone, and just… well that was it actually. Never seeing her beloved boyfriend again. Never allowed to see what he is thinking with his amazing facial expressions on what was going through his mind. Singing for her, playing with her on the piano or even just with other instruments. How he would laugh with her and make jokes with her when she was having a sad day.</em>
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  <em>Tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried to get herself up but had no strength anymore. All of her strength had finally left her and unable to do anything.</em>
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  <em>She closed her eyes as she waited for the last of her strength to finally leave her… till she heard a voice shouting her name.</em>
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  <em>The young woman couldn’t even lift her head to see who it was. Though before she could even say anything, the young woman lifted her gaze as she saw the face of her beloved boyfriend holding her in his arms as he looked down at her. “Please, please stay with me!” shouted her boyfriend, through her tear filled vision the young woman tried to reach up to him. To touch his face in the hopes of trying to assure him that he knew that she loved him. That no matter what may come his way that he should know that she loved him.</em>
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  <em>Her boyfriend kissed her, she felt a little bit of warmth through her body but it faded far too quickly. “Please, just stay with me. I can’t lose you too!” He begged.</em>
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  <em>The young woman just gave him a small smile. A smile that was filled with love before whispering “I love you.”</em>
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  <em>“I love you too, which is why you can’t leave me!” He begged, kissing her again.</em>
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  <em>The young woman tried to kiss him back, but her strength was fading rapidly to the point that it was starting to become difficult for her to stay awake. Breathing deeply, the young woman gave him one last smile. Wanting him to know that she couldn’t stop this, her body just couldn’t hold on much longer. She was holding on by a single thread that kept her tied to this mortal coil.</em>
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  <em>“I’m sorry… my heart, my soul is always yours.” She whispered softly, even a smile grew on her face while he wiped away at her tears. The young woman looked up at the man, she saw his beautiful tanned skin that she has caressed many times during her time with him. A pair of glasses that always hid his beautiful eyes but she knew that they were the most beautiful thing in the world.</em>
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  <em>Around his neck was a golden chain that she’s never seen him without.</em>
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  <em>Her gaze soon fell onto the mass of dark curls that she loved to run her fingers through over and over again. Oh how she wanted to run her fingers through them right now but she knew that it was nothing more than a fleeting fantasy.</em>
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  <em>Even with the rain falling, she could just make out the face of the man that she loved. She whispered “Please kiss me…” Her last request, her very last request.</em>
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  <em>He didn’t even hesitate as he pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes slowly started to close as she breathed her last.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar woke up to an odd sound hitting his ears. Groaning a little, the young man rubbed at his face as he let out a soft moan. Everything that was hitting him in that moment as he looked over and blinked slowly. “My phone?” He whispered softly before groaning and reached over as he slowly dragged his hand on the table. Trying to find his phone, once he found his hand found his phone he sighed softly before lifting it up and answered. “Hello?”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Oh my god, thank god! Balthy, are you okay? I haven’t heard from you in days!”</em> came his sister’s voice, he let out a soft groan as he rubbed at his face as he felt like his head was going to split open. Breathing deeply, he tried to think things through.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you talking about?” asked the blonde.</p><p> </p><p><em>”I’ve been trying to call you for days and there haven’t been an answer. I was scared that something happened to you.”</em> Zoey said with worry and concern lacing her words.</p><p> </p><p>Wait, she’s been trying to call him for days? What the bloody hell happened?</p><p> </p><p>Slowly, the blonde started to sit up in bed and saw that he was shirtless once again. Though that wasn’t the only thing he noticed. He noticed a bunch of marks on his skin, causing him to frown in confusion. They almost looked like scars that had healed over time but at the same time almost like birthmarks. This is really odd, he needed to check it out.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man pushed himself out of bed and shakily made his way toward the bathroom in his trailer. “So you’ve been trying to call me? Why? Did you end up finding something?” asked Balthazar with a chuckle. Trying to lighten the mood though he had a good a feeling that it would be easier said than done to say the least.</p><p> </p><p><em>”Actually I did.”</em> Zoey said softly before letting out a soft sigh. Yet there was a hint of worry in her voice. <em>”See, I started to dig into family history and found grandma’s old family album that she had kept hidden for years and I found a picture with Aunt Katherina in it.”</em> Balthazar was a little confused about that one. It didn’t make sense to him though he felt like Zoey had actually found something worthwhile, not something like this.</p><p> </p><p>“Zoey, if you are only wanting to talk about how our aunt died young then I don’t want to hear about-“</p><p> </p><p><em>”No! I found a journal and a news clipping about her. Said she was on her way home from a gala and was found the next morning in an alleyway. She was raped and stabbed to death Balthy.”</em> Zoey said, which made the man shudder a little at that. The dream that was what happened in the dream. <em>”But there’s more. I found a picture of her from a distance. It was as if someone was following her or something and well… well you have to see this!”</em></p><p> </p><p>With that, his phone dinged and Balthazar couldn’t help but blink a little as he sighed softly. Accepting the image, he couldn’t help but stare at his reflection. The young man noticed that his chest was lined in multiple lines that made him think of his past dreams.</p><p> </p><p>One over his chest, it looked like a bullet wound. Then there was a line that made him think of the impalement from the tree from the fall. Then of course there was the stabbings that he had from the previous dream and finally there was a scar from the stabbing he got for protecting Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ding</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Looking down at his phone, he saw that the image had fully loaded. Staring at the image, he saw a woman, tall and thin. Had some curves to her though not overly so. She had long beautiful hair that was sleek. Though the picture was black and white so he couldn’t tell what the colour was. She wore a beautiful dress, large sparkling eyes that showed the world what she felt and that she wasn’t afraid of it.</p><p> </p><p>Though that wasn’t the only thing that he noticed.</p><p> </p><p>It was the man next to her. The man that was next to her, had his arm around her waist as he gazed upward at her. He wore a track suit that was oh so familiar.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?!”</p><p> </p><p>The man looked just like Dakota. But how was that possible?! Was that a relative of Vinnie’s that he wasn’t aware of? What happened to him? What was going on!? This whole thing was getting crazy. Breathing deeply, Balthazar placed the phone back to his ear as he said “Zoey, was there a name mentioned in the journal? In the report? Anything?”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Sadly no there wasn’t. I didn’t have a lot of time to look much into the journal or the album but I’m hoping to learn more. But if that man is a relative of Vinnie’s, then you’ll have to ask him about that.”</em> Zoey said with a soft sigh. She had a point about that, if he was going to get any kind of answers, then he was going to have to go and ask the man himself about everything that was happening. None of this was making sense, it was as if the more questions that he got answered that there was even more than before.</p><p> </p><p>Staring at his body once more, he saw that the scars lined his body once again as he asked “Zoey, can you do me another favor? Can you look up on scars that would suddenly appear on someone’s body out of nowhere?”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Why-“</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“It’s hard to explain but just humor me please.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Alright, I’ll do that. I have to go, gonna try to make some photo copies of the journal and album before grandma sees that it’s missing. Bye Balthy!”</em> With that, Zoey hung up the phone, leaving Balthazar alone. He was going to have to get dressed and look for Vinnie and get some damn answers. Narrowing his gaze at the phone, he couldn’t help but stare at the photo. The smile that was looking up at his aunt… it was a smile that he’s never really seen on Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>It was so happy, so full of love and happiness. Sure he had seen Vinnie happy before but this level of happiness… something that tugged at the blonde’s heart strings. It was something that he hadn’t thought to be possible for the man, but he had wanted to see a smile like that from Vinnie. Taking a deep breath, he made his way out of his bathroom and went to get dressed as he went to look for Vinnie to get some answers.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The search hadn’t taken as long as he had thought it would. Balthazar couldn’t help but look over as he found himself going to the building that was nearby the trailers. It was in the entertainment hall that they had parked nearby that was supposed to be a location for the concert. The young man couldn’t help but wonder why Vinnie would be here of all places.</p><p> </p><p>Looking around, he could faintly hear the sound of a piano’s keys being hit. It held no true tune, though it almost seemed as if it was being tested more than anything else. Tilting his head a little, the young man followed the music that was hitting his ear before he found himself going around the corner and blinked in shock as he saw Vinnie sitting by a grand piano.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes a couple times in confusion, Balthazar was about to walk forward. To demand answers until Vinnie let out a soft sigh. A soft sob escaped him, making the blonde stop dead in his tracks. Was he… crying? Staring with wide eyes, he hadn’t known that to be even a possibility yet, he was hearing it for sure. Gulping a couple times, the young man just couldn’t help but stare in shock at the sight itself. It had almost felt like it was nothing more than a dream of such a sight.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie was hunched forward on the piano before taking a deep breath and leaned back upward as his hands hovered over the keys. Testing the keys once again as he whispered something under his breath. But it was lost over the sound of the piano playing a few tones to test if it was well in tuned. Balthazar looked around and noticed a circle of feathers that littered around Vinnie. It was the same feathers that he has been seeing around the man lately.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Why are there so many feathers when it comes to Vinnie lately?’</em> He thought to himself before listening to the piano starting to form a melody. An actual melody, it was a song that he felt like he knew from somewhere but was unsure as to where it came from, but it sounded so… oddly familiar to him for some reason. It was something he couldn’t really place, but he couldn’t help but pull out his phone and hit record.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Oh my dear, do you remember</em><br/>
<em>How we spent so many sleepless nights?</em><br/>
<em>The planes high above left smoky trails across the sky</em><br/>
<em>And that same sky reminds me</em><br/>
<em>Of the whispered promise that we made</em><br/>
<em>As we felt our summer fade away</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but stare in shock. Vinnie was playing so beautifully. Yes, he knew that the man had a wonderful singing voice but this? It was filled with so much pain and torment. Pain of loss. Torment of loss and suffering that no one could ever truly understand. Balthazar couldn’t help but reach up and place a hand over his heart at the sound of such pain that was laced with the words.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The shadow that hides behind your smile</em><br/>
<em>It says all the things that your heart can't say</em><br/>
<em>The silence says so much more than words</em><br/>
<em>And I pretend it doesn't hurt</em>
</p><p> </p><p>During the small pause, the blonde swore that he heard a sniffle coming from Vinnie in that moment. The song itself had caused him some kind of emotional grief yet he played it anyway. It made the blonde couldn’t help but wonder what it was that he was feeling. What was going on both in his head, as well as his heart in that moment? It was as if the song itself brought out the deepest of emotions that the man tried to keep hidden from the world. Something that only he could understand, something that only he should feel and feel alone it should.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I just keep waiting for you</em><br/>
<em>To break down and tell me the truth</em><br/>
<em>It's all that I can do</em><br/>
<em>Like every great summer fades away</em><br/>
<em>And just like the promise me we made</em><br/>
<em>Like your smile, it's getting harder to take</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Breathing softly, Vinnie leaned back a little as he went back to playing with all of his pent up emotions that were starting to overflow his heart. The man was full to the brim with pain and suffering that he couldn’t keep pent up anymore. That much was something that Balthazar could pick up with how the man’s voice carried out his words. Pain was the key to this, as well as loss of a loved one. Was this about his parents? No, this was the loss of a loved one.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Oh my dear do you remember how we gazed into the summer sky</em><br/>
<em>The light danced across your face and sparkled in your eyes</em><br/>
<em>And the promise we whispered, now a secret carried by the wind</em><br/>
<em>We said our love would never die</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Lifting his head, Vinnie looked up at the ceiling, as if he was trying to stare at the sky. To see the person that he had lost who knows how long ago. Balthazar frowned as he clutched at the fabric of his shirt that resided over his heart. How could anyone have so much pain in their heart without it breaking them apart? It was something that he didn’t envy, but it was something that he wanted to understand. Wanted to learn more about, to help Vinnie carry this burden.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The darkness that fills me up with doubt</em><br/>
<em>It strains me, it drains me, it breaks me down</em><br/>
<em>Exhausted, I try to get some sleep</em><br/>
<em>But I see your smile in my dreams</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Lowering his gaze once again, Vinnie let out a soft sniffle between a verse or two, and just kept playing. His voice sounded so tired, as if he hadn’t been able to sleep at all. Haunted by memories that would never leave him. The memories, that would forever live with him for something that he could never escape from and that itself, hurt Balthazar more than he thought to be possible. It made him want to wrap his arms around Vinnie in that moment but… felt like this was his coping mechanism.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I just keep waiting for you</em><br/>
<em>To break down and tell me the truth</em><br/>
<em>It's all that I can do</em><br/>
<em>Like every great summer fades away</em><br/>
<em>And just like the promise me we made</em><br/>
<em>Like your smile, it's getting harder to take</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He took one moment to lift his one hand to wipe away at his tears. Tears that he knew that Vinnie was still shedding in order to allow his pain to finally break the surface. Yet he wasn’t sure if he could handle more pain and more suffering alone like this. Balthazar narrowed his eyes at this, he wouldn’t allow Vinnie to suffer in silence anymore. He would help his friend, ensure that this man was never alone. Never again.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Oh my dear I remember all the hope that you held in your eyes</em><br/>
<em>I'll always remember how you made me feel alive</em><br/>
<em>Summer skies will remind of when your smile had nothing to hide</em><br/>
<em>We said, our love--</em><br/>
<em>Oh my dear, I remember all the love that you held in your eyes</em><br/>
<em>I'll always remember how it made me feel alive</em><br/>
<em>And I hope that in time, as the days, months, and years go by</em><br/>
<em>That you remember how to smile</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Soon, the song started to come to a close, causing Balthazar to stop his recording. Breathing deeply, the young man started to slowly walk forward once again. This time, taking his time, afraid that the wrong step would shatter Vinnie before he could do anything that would help him. Vinnie let out a few sobs before he was able to collect himself and sat up straighter as he started to wipe at his eyes in that moment to wipe away at his tears.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?” Balthazar whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>The man froze for a moment before slowly looked over his shoulder, his shades covered his eyes. Yet they kept the man’s eyes hidden from the blonde. “Hey Cav, thought you’d be asleep for a while longer.” Vinnie said, a small smile gracing his lips before he let out a chuckle. “Won’t lie, happy to see that you’re awake at least! How do you feel?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little. Could he really bother Vinnie with a question about his great aunt when he is hurting like this?</p><p> </p><p><em>’I can’t…’</em> He thought to himself before letting out a soft sigh as he sat down next to the man. “I feel fine, little tired but that is understandable. I do have a question though, how did I get back to the trailer? Did you carry me?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie turned to stare at Balthazar for a second with a frown on his face. “Yeah, you were really out of it. You couldn’t even stand on your own two feet so I had to carry you-“</p><p> </p><p>“What? I was stabbed, I remember you holding me before I blacked out.” He was sure that was what happened… he was sure of it.</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, you weren’t stabbed Cavendish. You were just really tired and fainted in my arms. I think your cold is coming back or something.” He chuckled a little, yet it sounded so empty and void of emotion. He wanted to argue with Vinnie but he felt like he had to do some research to get proof of the attack but, he wasn’t sure how he was going to do that.</p><p> </p><p>If the attack had happened, there was most likely little to nothing to report.</p><p> </p><p>If it was a dream, then it had been a very realistic one.</p><p> </p><p>“So what are you doing here anyway Dakota? You sound rather pained.” Balthazar asked, thinking a change in subject would be enough for the time being.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked a little before giving a small sad smile as he looked away. “I kind of have moments where I have to play these songs, or at least this song.” He let out a soft sigh before rubbing at his face. “I play this song once a year in the hopes of removing the pain in my heart.”</p><p> </p><p>“The song…”</p><p> </p><p>“It was written for me from someone I cared about. I play it now and again, not very often. It’s rather painful but I don’t know what to do right now. The song is done, but I still feel so much pain.” Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little at that. Just how much pain was in Vinnie? How much did he hide from everyone around him? None of this made sense to the man, looking at the piano, the blonde couldn’t help but let out a sigh.</p><p> </p><p>He reached forward as he said “Know any other songs?”</p><p> </p><p>“A few why?”</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s play. Perhaps, playing some music with me will help with your pain. Do you wish to try?” Balthazar asked with a chuckle, hoping to help the man next to him to overcome his pain.</p><p> </p><p>“That sounds cool actually.” Vinnie said with a smile as they both started to play music together. Yet, he may not have gotten any answers, and just became all the more confused about the mugging and the stab that he got in the long run… but right now was not the time to do this.</p><p> </p><p>But that wasn’t the only thing that he noticed… the music, the pain, how much his emotional state had been lately when it came to Vinnie. The way Vinnie was sad? It hurt. He never wanted Vinnie to be sad, only wanted him to be happy… happy with him. Smiling at him, only giving him smiles and… and… and…</p><p> </p><p><em>’Am I in love with Vinnie Dakota? But how is that possible?’</em> He thought to himself.</p><p> </p><p>He had no true answer but, he knew in his heart that it was true. Even though it confused him to no end.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I decided to update this early haha. I hope you like it and yeah, Balthazar finally admits that he loves Vinnie but it'll just get more complicated for the pair later on. and yeah, I switched between dream and reality, it was something I've never done before so I hope it wasn't badly written.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Surprises</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's Balthazar's birthday and Vinnie decides to do something nice for his birthday but, things don't go as planned.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>songs are in order lol play in order XD</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lTCnswkgOQ&amp;ab_channel=duck%2C</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTo0PLrLm48&amp;ab_channel=TrendsMusicLyrics</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vinnie had his feet propped up on a foot rest as he and Balthazar watched some movie on the TV. He wasn’t really sure what the movie was about but it sure looked good. It was one of Balthazar’s favourites but meh, he didn’t mind. The movie itself had action, some comedy, and a tad of romance though it wasn’t the main focus.</p><p> </p><p>Crossing his arms across his chest, he couldn’t help but just stare at the movie with interest as he thought about the time he’s spent with Balthazar. Sure, it hadn’t felt very long but he couldn’t help but feel like it had felt like a life time with the man.</p><p> </p><p>Lowering his gaze for a moment, Vinnie couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be till Balthazar would leave. It was only a matter of time, he knew that much for sure. Though he couldn’t help but want to spend as much time as he could with the man even if that remaining time would be short to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man looked up just as he saw the hero taking a stab for the person he loved but still fighting back. It always made him happy to see how far someone would go for a person they loved. (Even though Balthazar had protected him once) It made him think back to all of the books that he’s read, yet at the same time he couldn’t help but feel himself sink on the couch of Balthazar’s trailer. Something like that would never happen for him and he’s come to accept that for the most part.</p><p> </p><p>Even though he didn’t like it to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>Just as he was about to ask Balthazar if he wanted a drink or something, he looked over and saw that the man had drifted off to sleep during the movie. It was pretty late, so it made sense that he would have fallen asleep. “Hey, Cavendish?” No answer, yup he was indeed asleep.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but stare at Balthazar. He knew that this was the same person, kinda… sorta? Honestly, Vinnie had no idea how it all worked but he just knew that this was the same person that he cared about. But also different at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>Before he could even speak, Balthazar grunted in his sleep before he just seemed to have rolled himself over. Vinnie just blinked as Balthazar’s head now lay against the shorter man’s stomach, causing Vinnie to blush a little. Balthazar’s hand resting against Vinnie’s thigh, while the other gripped against the man’s shirt in a firm hold.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie couldn’t help but stare in confusion, but then his gaze softened a little before reaching to the back of the couch and pulled off a throw blanket and carefully draped it over the sleeping man. Peaches, the white fluffy bunny poked her head up from the end of the couch before hopping up and laid atop of Balthazar’s hip and just seemed to make herself comfortable.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but smile at the sight. The whole thing was rather adorable, he just couldn’t help but stare. Wanting to burn the image in his brain forever though at the same time he wasn’t sure if the mental image itself would be enough. Though at the same time, he knew that he couldn’t take a picture of the sight but he was worried the flash would wake him.</p><p> </p><p>Then he remembered something.</p><p> </p><p>Reaching into his jacket, thankfully he had it unzipped for a change since it was a little warm in here. Vinnie pulled out of his jacket what looked like a long book. Flipping through the pages, he found a blank page as he started to draw. It wasn’t something he did very often, mostly it was just something that he did as a means to either help him pass the time. More so when gaming, reading, eating… or even listening or performing his songs wasn’t enough of a distraction for him.</p><p> </p><p>But moments like these? They were to help him preserve memories that he never wanted to forget such as this. Breathing deeply, the shorter man couldn’t help but draw the scene before him. Just wanting to preserve this memory forever.</p><p> </p><p>Just as he was adding the shadowing to the image, a light caught his attention.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking, the shorter man looked over and saw a bright light shining through the pocket of Balthazar’s waist coat that the blanket had slipped up from his slight movements while trying to get comfortable. Peaches was a little disturbed but just made herself comfortable once again. Vinnie reached over and pulled out Balthazar’s phone.</p><p> </p><p>The lock screen picture was of Peaches nibbling on a carrot.</p><p> </p><p><em>’So cute.’</em> Vinnie thought to himself before noticing that the notification was a text message from Balthazar’s sister. It read ‘Happy Early Birthday Balthy!’</p><p> </p><p>Birthday?</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes in shock, he couldn’t help but swipe at the screen. No lock at all? Weird, but worked out for him to say the least. (Even though it was kind of careless) He knew that he had to do something if he was going to learn what this was, and if Balthazar’s birthday was coming up then he wanted to learn all that he could.</p><p> </p><p>Going through Balthazar’s contact list, noticing that he didn’t really have many people on the list. That kind of hurt Vinnie to see. Once he found Zoey’s contact number, he quickly pulled out his phone and saved the number to his own phone before calling her.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Hello?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, this is Vinnie Dakota.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Oh my god! You have my number! How do you have my number? I can’t believe you have my number…”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie chuckled softly, happy to hear that he made someone’s night at least. Though he had more pressing matters to attend to right now. “I saw your text on Cavendish’s phone and, well I didn’t know his birthday was coming up.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Oh, yeah he doesn’t really like celebrating his birthday. Not a lot of people to celebrate it other than family. He never had friends, maybe besides you.”</em> Zoey replied softly, sadly really. Vinnie couldn’t help but frown at the thought. Hearing something like that broke his heart. To have no one in his life to celebrate something like his birthday? How was that possible? He didn’t know, but knew that he would have to change that right now. He would do whatever it took to change Balthazar’s views on his birthday.</p><p> </p><p>“So, can you tell me when his birthday is Zoey? I’d love to do something for his it, even if it’s something small.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Oh, thank you so much!”</em> Zoey said, her smile was clear in her voice. Vinnie couldn’t help but smile in return. Yeah, this was going to be great. He just hoped that Balthazar saw it that way.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Balthazar grunted as he looked at the newspapers. It was the one day of the year that he despised more than anything else in the world.</p><p> </p><p>His birthday.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but think about past birthdays when he was growing up. Every time he tried to invite people, they would either rip up his invite, say they were busy (He’d find them in the park later on in the day playing with other children) or say they’ll come only to not show up. He couldn’t help but feel the prickling of tears that he had to push down. No, he wouldn’t be that sniveling child he once was ever again.</p><p> </p><p>To shed tears showed that they had won in the end.</p><p> </p><p>His fingers curled, crumpling the paper in his hands as he tried to fight his emotions as the past. Recalling more of his childhood. How the children would talk about all of their birthdays with friends. How they would even talk about how they were lucky to have found a way to get out of going to his own birthday. That going to ‘the loser, snobby rich kids’ birthday’ was the best thing they could do.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar could feel his hands shaking and trembling as he did so.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a deep breath, hoping to calm his nerves in the hopes of just trying to pass this day as if it was nothing more to him than a normal day. Even though it was his birthday, he just wanted to pretend that it wasn’t.</p><p> </p><p>So, he had decided to spend the day on the bus, just wanting to enjoy the chatter of Vinnie as he played games with Crystal. The soft snoring of Blade as he had some kind of ‘cat nap’ by the window. The sound of passing cars would even be soothing to him, then he thinks he’ll end the day with cuddles from his bunny Peaches. Maybe even give her a nice carrot or some kale.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Sounds like a perfect plan to me.’</em> Balthazar thought to himself before chuckling to himself. Already starting to feel better to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>“Yo, Cavendish!” came Vinnie’s voice, causing the young man to lower the paper a bit as he looked at his friend and saw the shorter man grinning at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes Dakota?”</p><p> </p><p>“I asked Brick if we could stop in the city for tonight. It’s a special occasion so I thought we should all go out for the night.” Vinnie said with a grin on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at him. What was he planning? There was no telling what was going to happen, though he felt like he should be used to Vinnie’s plans of wandering around the cities at this point. After all, it was how he got Peaches in the end. “What do you plan we do then?” asked Balthazar with confusion.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal sighed softly as she walked up to Vinnie with Blade next to her as always. Was Blade glued to her hip or something? It seemed rather strange that those two were almost always together when the man was awake. “We’re planning to go out to the bar. Vinnie here figured you need a night to loosen up since its-“</p><p> </p><p>“It’s such a fantastic night to go out and enjoy ourselves!” Vinnie cut in, giving Crystal a small glare. Balthazar was a little confused about what had just happened. Though for the time being he didn’t really want to go do anything but want to stay inside and relax and wish for this day to be over with already.</p><p> </p><p>“I’d rather stay indoors.” Balthazar calmly said before looking back at his newspaper.</p><p> </p><p>“Nope!” Vinnie declared as he grabbed the paper from the young man’s grip and threw it as far away as possible. “We’re going out no matter if you want too or not!” Vinnie said with his smile still as bright as ever. Balthazar felt his heart hammering in his chest at the sight. How was it that he loved this man in the first place? It should have been impossible but he does.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, he mumbled “Fine” as he pushed himself up onto his feet as he checked to make sure that his phone was in his pocket. Then of course his wallet.</p><p> </p><p>“Nope, you aren’t paying for a thing today.” Crystal said as she grabbed Balthazar’s wallet. Going through it quickly before taking his debit, credit, and cash and setting it in her pocket.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you mad?!” Balthazar declared.</p><p> </p><p>“Crazy yes, but mad not so much.” Crystal said with a grin on her face.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar swore that she was insane.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just grinned all the more as he grabbed the man’s hand. Causing the young man to blush slightly as he looked at their conjoined hands for a brief moment. Hoping and praying that his hands weren’t sweaty. That would be so very embarrassing to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s go!” Vinnie cheered as he dragged the taller man behind him. Grinning like a fool, a handsome fool if he may think to himself.</p><p> </p><p>Though if he was honest, he didn’t think that he would be able to handle going to the bar. He hadn’t gone out to drink in a long time and so far he didn’t think he even had a reason to drink. No reason to celebrate anything to say the least. Certainly not his birthday for sure though at the same time… he couldn’t help but feel the tiniest sliver of hope that was the reason for Vinnie’s choice to go out tonight. But, he also knew that to be impossible as Vinnie didn’t… he didn’t know that it was Balthazar’s birthday in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>So, that just hurt him all the more.</p><p> </p><p>Because, no one knew that it was his birthday. Only his sister knew and she had sent him a text a few days before his birthday. For that he was happy sure, but… that would be all he got from this in the long run. There was no point in trying to feel hurt when there was nothing to celebrate in the first place.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The walk to say the least was a tad uneventful. Balthazar still didn’t know where it was that they were going and that bothered him. No one would tell him where they were going, or at least what kind of bar it was that they were going too. It was what bothered him, the idea of not knowing something. He had studied many years learning about a topic that he would love to learn about.</p><p> </p><p>Now to not know about where they were going was what bothered him.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over at Vinnie, he and the shorter man had let go of each other’s hands for a while ago. Honestly, Balthazar was already missing the warmth that would pass through him and it made him a little sad about such a thing.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar wanted to know if Vinnie felt the same. Even though the young man himself, had discovered his feelings not long ago, it still made him hopeful that the other man had felt the same. Though he highly doubted that it would ever be returned. An unrequited love.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, the young man wasn’t aware of his surroundings as he crossed the street. Unaware of someone shouting his name to get his attention. Though when he looked up, he saw that Vinnie was rushing toward him with panic hitting him. “Huh?”</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish watch out!” shouted Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked over and saw a truck heading his way. His eyes widened in shock as he tried to get out of the way. Only to feel someone tackling him out of the way and rolled onto the ground till they managed to get to the sidewalk.</p><p> </p><p>Groaning, the young man was about to say thank you to Vinnie, till something hit him in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>Cold tingling.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up in shock, he saw that it was that man. Shadow! The one that had tried flirting with him at the bookstore while Vinnie was paying for his games. He was looking down at Balthazar with a big grin on his face before helping him up onto his feet while saying “Whew! That was a close one there handsome! I saw that you were about to get hit and had to jump in to save you!”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar tried to back up, but the man wouldn’t allow it. He had a firm hold on the blonde, making him feel all the more nervous. “Unhand me!” Balthazar demanded.</p><p> </p><p>“What? I don’t get a little kiss for saving you?” Shadow said with a pout on his face. Feeling hurt, like he was about to cry. Though Balthazar, he could see right through the man. That this was nothing more than an act, that he didn’t feel anything in the moment and only wanted to guilt Balthazar to give him what he wanted.</p><p> </p><p>“Didn’t you hear the man?” came Vinnie’s voice, harsh and filled with anger as he grabbed Shadow’s wrist and squeezed. “He said to unhand him.” He said harshly before pulling the blonde toward him in his free hand. Balthazar blushed madly before he looked down at Vinnie with wide eyes. The hardness within the man’s eyes caused the blonde to think that he was looking at an entirely different person. Or maybe, this was a different part of Vinnie’s personality that he rarely ever gets to see.</p><p> </p><p>Shadow glared at Vinnie for a moment before looking at Balthazar. “He’s not what he appears you know. You’ll learn someday that he is just a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” With that, Shadow started to walk away, causing Balthazar to blink his eyes in confusion. What was going on? What had just happened in the first place? There was no way that Vinnie was… no, he was a good man. He knew that.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down at the shorter man, he saw that Vinnie’s gaze hadn’t changed until Shadow was completely out of sight. The shorter man soon let out a soft sigh before looking up at Balthazar and gave a big grin as he said “Come on, let’s not let him ruin our fun tonight okay?” How was it that the shorter man could be so angry one moment, then be so happy the next? It was as if he had some kind of emotional whiplash or something along those lines. It was so odd, so bizarre to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on guys we’re burning daylight here!” shouted Crystal, causing both men to look over at her as she and Blade started to walk on ahead. Vinnie chuckled as he looked up at the blonde next to him. Balthazar couldn’t help but feel himself gazing deeply into the eyes of the shorter man. How was it that he could feel so much affection for this man that he hadn’t even known for a year?</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s get going. Crystal has a point.” Vinnie calmly said before starting to follow his friend. Balthazar turned himself to stare at Vinnie as he watched the man walk on ahead. Vinnie was a puzzle, a puzzle that he wanted to figure out and he wanted those answers tonight. Taking a deep breath, Balthazar started to follow the group to the bar.</p><p> </p><p>When he looked up, he saw that it looked like a mix of a dance club, and karaoke bar. “Interesting mixture.” Balthazar mumbled to himself though, he was still confused as to why they were even at this place in the first place. It was all the more confusing but knew that he was going to have to try to make himself enjoy this. It wasn’t often that he would be able to get out and about to enjoy what life had to offer.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, he still felt like there was something more that was going on.</p><p> </p><p>“So, what brought this on you three.” Balthazar said with a narrow of his eyes and crossed his arms. It was one thing to want to go out and fool around but to just want to go out drinking? As if they were celebrating something that… he had no idea what it could have been. That there had to be some other kind of motive. There just had to be.</p><p> </p><p>Blade raised a brow at the blonde before looking over at Crystal and Vinnie. “Just tell him the damn truth alright? I’m not going to listen to him whine all night.”</p><p> </p><p>Crystal rolled her eyes as she looked over at Vinnie as she added “He has a point. It was bad enough that you hid the reason for wanting to come out here in the first place. You got him out, now just tell him the truth already Vinnie.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie whined a little before looking up at the blonde. He gave a nervous smile before saying “Well, you see…” He rubbed the back of his head, it seemed that Vinnie was trying to find a good reason to explain everything. “The other night, after you fell asleep on me I was just drawing to keep myself entertained-“</p><p> </p><p>“You draw?” Balthazar asked in shock.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, now anyway I heard your phone going off and went to check it so I could turn the sound off so you wouldn’t wake up since you were so comfortable!” Vinnie blushed a little as he scratched at his cheek. “Then, well it was a text from your sister so I unlocked your phone. Speaking of, you should really get a PIN or something on your phone. Anyone can open it you know.” Balthazar blushed a little at that. Okay, yes he should have gotten a PIN or something for his phone.</p><p> </p><p>His sister must be laughing at him for being right once again.</p><p> </p><p>“I got your sister’s number, called her and asked her when your birthday was since she was wishing you an early birthday.” The blonde blinked in shock at that. “So, I spent a few days planning a night out for us to all go out drinking. She mentioned that you like scotch the best and this place has the best damn scotch in the world! Or at least it says so on their site.”</p><p> </p><p>Of course he would use the internet to look for choices on his drinks.</p><p> </p><p>“So, happy birthday Cavendish!” Vinnie cheered.</p><p> </p><p>“Happy birthday Cavendish/Balthazar.” Crystal and Blade said with a smile on their faces.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked before blushing softly.</p><p> </p><p>They wanted to come out and celebrate his birthday? <em>His</em> birthday? Him? Of all people in the world? They… they actually wanted to come out and celebrate his birthday?</p><p> </p><p>He… he felt so very touched.</p><p> </p><p>“Aw, don’t cry Cav!” Vinnie said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a tissue and handed it to the blonde. “I didn’t want you to cry, it’s your birthday, you should be happy!” Vinnie pointed out with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Accepting the tissue, Balthazar wiped at his eyes. Trying to get himself to calm down long enough to tell them the truth. That he was happy. That he really appreciated what they had gone out of their way to do for him. Even if it was something as simple as just going out to a bar for drinks. Though it seemed that Crystal caught on as she said “He’s not upset Vinnie, he’s happy.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, great!” Vinnie grinned brightly.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but roll his eyes before letting out a chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>The night had been spent while drinking and, to be honest Balthazar was just happy to be celebrating with people who seem to genuinely care about him. For that he could be happy right now. All three men were happily drinking. (Crystal didn’t drink, saying that she doesn’t like the taste) Vinnie looked up at Balthazar after he had his third drink of scotch.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde couldn’t help but look down at the shorter man as he asked “Something the matter Dakota?”</p><p> </p><p>“How are you not drunk right now?” he asked in shocked amazement.</p><p> </p><p>“Everyone in the Cavendish line seem to have an uncanny tolerance to alcohol.” Balthazar said with a chuckle. “What about you? You and Blade have drank quite a bit yourselves and yet you both seem pretty sober.”</p><p> </p><p>“Our tolerance is… out of this world.” Blade replied as he sipped at his drink.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but stare in confusion. It made him wonder what it was that could have meant. How could anyone’s tolerance be ‘out of this world’? What was that even supposed to mean in the first place? Tilting his head, before Balthazar could even ask what it was that he was talking about, music started to play.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh I love this song!” Vinnie said with excitement before he got himself up and ran to the dance floor. There were already people on the floor dancing, and Vinnie was almost lost in the sea of people.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>(I just can't help falling in love with you)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but watch as Vinnie just seemed to dance about, jumping around to the beat of the song. He couldn’t help but blink as the shorter man danced like it was the best thing to happen to him in his entire life. Though to be honest, he couldn’t help but smile at the man. This was one of the things that made Balthazar love him. His ability to smile, no matter what may come his way or try to get in his path, he would just smile and laugh, just<em> shine </em>like the sun itself.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Wise men say only fools rush in</em><br/>
<em>But I can't help falling in love with you</em><br/>
<em>Shall I say would it be a sin</em><br/>
<em>(Be a sin)</em><br/>
<em>If I can't help falling in love with you</em><br/>
<em>Like a river flows (Oooh)</em><br/>
<em>To the sea (Oooh)</em><br/>
<em>So it goes</em><br/>
<em>Some things are meant to be</em><br/>
<em>Some things are meant to be</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Why don’t you go out there and join him?” asked Crystal with a frown on her face. Balthazar looked over at the young woman next to him. She had her arms crossed as she stared at their friend dancing in the sea of people. He was honestly hard to miss. “You could use some fun in your life you know. Plus, I know you want to join him.”</p><p> </p><p>“What makes you say that?” asked Balthazar as he sipped at his scotch.</p><p> </p><p>“Empath, remember?” Crystal said with a smirk as she pointed to the side of her head. Right, of course he had forgotten that she was an empath. How could he have forgotten such a thing when she had spent most of her time trying to help him with his- “Don’t worry about it, just go out and enjoy yourself. It’s your birthday after all!” Crystal said before slapping the blonde’s back, nearly toppling him off of his bar stool.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Take my hand (take my hand)</em><br/>
<em>Take my whole life too (life too)</em><br/>
<em>For I can't help falling in love with you</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but stare at Crystal for a moment. His eyes wide with shock and confusion. She was so hard to read, as was Blade. As the man next to her was just giving her a stare that seemed to hold a hint of worry within their depths. Worry for what, he couldn’t really say but knew that it had to involve Vinnie in some way. Why else would he seem worried since the two have been looking out for the shorter man for years.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Wise men say only fools rush in</em><br/>
<em>But I, I can't, I can't help falling in love (falling in love) With you (with you)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, the young man made his way over to the shorter man. The song though almost felt like it was near its end. Making him want to kick himself for such a thing but, he was going to make up for it right now wasn’t he? At least he could spend a little time with Vinnie on his birthday!</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Like a river flows (Oooh)</em><br/>
<em>To the sea (Oooh)</em><br/>
<em>So it goes</em><br/>
<em>Some things are meant to be</em><br/>
<em>Some things are meant to be</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish!” Vinnie shouted over the beat of the music, a big grin was on his face as per usual. It made the blonde’s heart skip a beat within his chest. “So you decided to join me!” He said with a chuckle before grabbing a hold of the blonde’s hand, Balthazar’s heart started to quicken in pace.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Take my hand (take my hand)</em><br/>
<em>Take my whole life too (life too)</em><br/>
<em>For I can't help falling in love with you</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Before the blonde could even think of anything, Vinnie started to spin them both around in a circle. Balthazar nearly yelped out in shock and surprise as he stared at the shorter man with wide eyes. Yet, seeing that smile? Well, he forgot about his worries for the time being and just laughed.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Take my hand (take my hand)</em><br/>
<em>Take my whole life too (life too)</em><br/>
<em>For I can't help falling in love with you (with you)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, Crystal and Blade watched the two from afar. Crystal leaned against the bar as she watched her best friend dancing with the blonde. Even though it was the man’s birthday, she still felt a great deal of worry within her. Knowing that this was something that she herself, had tried to prevent with Blade’s help over the course of Balthazar being in their lives… she had pretty much given up at this point.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>For I can't help falling in love… falling in love with you</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal, why did you just give in like that? You know what will happen? It always happens when-“</p><p> </p><p>“Because there isn’t a point in trying to keep those two apart anymore Blade.” Crystal whispered softly, her voice soft but filled with pain as she let out a shuddering breath. “Balthazar is already in love with Vinnie, that much I can sense-“</p><p> </p><p>“But Vincent had promised that he wouldn’t get himself so attached-“</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie is capable of many things Blade, you know that. But the one thing that he is capable of is even lying to himself. But his emotions are as true as the sun is bright, he’s already fallen for Cavendish and there is no stopping it.” Crystal looked up at the dark haired man next to her. Tears in her eyes as she said “He’s going to get hurt again… and we can only pick up the pieces when it does happen.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Like a river flows</em><br/>
<em>That's the way it goes</em><br/>
<em>I just can't help fallin' in love with you</em><br/>
<em>(Fallin' in love with you)</em><br/>
<em>Like a river flows (yea yea)</em><br/>
<em>That's the way it goes(cause I can't)</em><br/>
<em>Fallin' in love with you</em><br/>
<em>Like a river flows (I just can't help myself)</em><br/>
<em>That's the way it goes</em><br/>
<em>I can't help falling in love with you</em><br/>
<em>(I can't help falling in love with you)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“You’re right puppy. We can only help him for when it does happen at this point.” Blade whispered before holding her for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s go out for a bit, I don’t want to see this happen right now. We’ll just tell them we went to the bathroom or something.”</p><p> </p><p>“Think they’ll believe that?”</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie believes anything we have to say most of the time and Cavendish will believe anything.” Crystal gave a small smile before lowering her gaze and made her way toward the door. Just wanting to give herself some air. Blade of course followed right behind her.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>(I can't help falling in love with you)</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Because who would want to see their friend get hurt for a fifth time?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Fallin'in love with you</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Once the song was done, Vinnie laughed happily as he released his hold on Balthazar’s hands. Feeling happiness just seeming to overflow through him. Even Balthazar could see that, and he wasn’t an empath. Though, he couldn’t help but look down at his hands for a brief moment. The tingling that he felt, the sensation still lingered upon his skin and he… dare he be selfish and say that he wanted more?</p><p> </p><p>Looking up at Vinnie, Balthazar calmly said “Is there any song that you don’t like? Or any kind of music that you even despise?”</p><p> </p><p>“Country.”</p><p> </p><p>“Pardon?” Balthazar blinked his eyes in confusion at that one. He wasn’t expecting an actual answer. Or at the very least he was thinking that there wasn’t any kind of music that Vinnie hated.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I’m not really big on country. I mean, well I can’t make people stop listening to it but meh. That’s their choice, not mine so why try anything?” Vinnie said with a simple shrug of his shoulders. It made Balthazar unable to fully comprehend what it was that he had just heard. Though, he couldn’t really complain that he had just learned something new about Vinnie Dakota.</p><p> </p><p>He wanted to learn more about the man. Always wanting to learn something about him, no matter what it was.</p><p> </p><p>Blushing softly, Balthazar asked “So, did you… um…” He wanted to ask this, wanted to know the answer to this question. “Did you mind that I joined you in the song? You looked like you were having so much fun-“</p><p> </p><p>“Cav! Relax, dancing is more fun with people you know! Sure, dancing alone is kinda okay and all, but to dance with someone you actually know? That makes it better.” The shorter man said with a chuckle before he looked over at the bar and frowned. “Speaking of people you know, guess Crystal and Blade disappeared on us for a bit. They’ll be back.”</p><p> </p><p>“You sure?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, they promised to stay for your birthday after all. Now, wanna get another drink?” Asked Vinnie with a smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, before Balthazar could even respond to such a question another song started. It was one he recognize but, the piano seemed softer than the original. Vinnie frowned in confusion before he looked over to the speakers. The shorter man opened his mouth to speak but Balthazar cut him off. His body trembling as he spoke. “We have time… for one more dance do we not?” Why was he so afraid right now?</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie looked up in shock as he said “You know this is a slow dance right?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar nodded.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes, Vinnie gave a small smile as he said “Alright, sounds fun.” He chuckled before grabbing a hold of Balthazar’s right hand and wrapped his free arm around the man’s waist. It was a tad difficult with the height difference but he didn’t mind. Balthazar felt his heart beating wildly in his chest as he wrapped his fingers around Vinnie’s hand, and moved his free arm around the shorter man’s shoulders since he couldn’t really reach his waist without bending downward.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>There's a calm surrender to the rush of day</em><br/>
<em>When the heat of a rolling wind can be turned away</em><br/>
<em>An enchanted moment, and it sees me through</em><br/>
<em>It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Both men stepped around in a circle, just following the beat of the song. The rhythm was rather lovely, Balthazar had to admit though he couldn’t help but feel the blush starting to reach up to his cheeks as he found himself oh so very close to Vinnie. This was a moment he’s wanted for a while, he never wanted to admit to himself but well, he does now.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And can you feel the love tonight?</em><br/>
<em>It is where we are</em><br/>
<em>It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer</em><br/>
<em>That we got this far</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“So, Cavendish do you know how to dance?” asked Vinnie with a smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“I do, my parents thought it was proper for a gentleman to know how to dance so he could impress a potential bride.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yet you’re dancing with a man.” Vinnie said with a snicker.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not against the idea of being with either or.” Balthazar replied simply, rolling his eyes yet he had a fond smile on his face. Could he tell Vinnie that he loved him? That he was in love with him? Okay, maybe being ‘in love’ may be going too far though he couldn’t be sure if he should even reveal that to him in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And can you feel the love tonight?</em><br/>
<em>How it's laid to rest?</em><br/>
<em>It's enough to make kings and vagabonds</em><br/>
<em>Believe the very best</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked as he looked up at Balthazar as he asked “You would be happy being with either a man or a woman? You’re bi?” Balthazar blushed a deep crimson, how could he confess something like that?! Vinnie frowned a little before rubbing his thumb against the blonde’s waist. Hoping to comfort him as he added “Hey man, I’m not teasing you here. I don’t care if you have a thing for men or woman, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, so am I after all.” Vinnie gave a small smile, hoping to bring some kind of comfort to the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>There's a time for everyone if they only learn</em><br/>
<em>That the twisting kaleidoscope moves us all in turn</em><br/>
<em>There's a rhyme and reason to the wild outdoors</em><br/>
<em>When the heart of this star-crossed voyager beats in time with yours</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked as he stared down at the shorter man. He was also? He had no idea, though not like he had ever really seen or heard of the man really dating anyone. Only that he <em>had</em> dated someone but still never knew if it was a man or a woman. There was no way of knowing what it was that Vinnie had even gone through. Only that he had lost his lover in some way, some fashion or something along those lines and he just didn’t know what it was. But he wanted to know.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And can you feel the love tonight? (Tonight)</em><br/>
<em>It is where we are</em><br/>
<em>It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer</em><br/>
<em>That we got this far</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie used this moment to dip Balthazar. Nearly making the man gasp out in shock as he looked up at the man above him. The blush grew stronger, and Vinnie just had a soft smile on his face as he gazed downward at Balthazar. The man mouthed the lyrics, a soft smile was upon his face that seemed to have grown into something so much fonder than possible. Did Balthazar see love within those depths? He couldn’t really be sure as to what it was that he was seeing.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>And can you feel the love tonight? (Tonight)</em><br/>
<em>How it's laid to rest?</em><br/>
<em>It's enough to make kings and vagabonds</em><br/>
<em>Believe the very best</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The shorter man pulled him back up onto his feet as he just seemed to gaze up at the taller man before him. Balthazar saw the blush tinting Vinnie’s cheeks in that moment. Did he feel the same? Was he feeling the same right now? He wanted to know, he wanted this… he wanted to kiss Vinnie more than anything in the world. Gulping, Balthazar decided to take charge right now.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he reached up with his hand that was once around Vinnie’s shoulders to gently cup his cheek. Leaning forward to kiss him. Vinnie placed his hand that was once around Balthazar’s waist to gently hold Balthazar’s hand that was upon his own cheek. His eyes half lidded before closing them. The blonde knew that Vinnie wanted this as well… He leaned in closer to press his lips against the shorter man’s lips.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It's enough to make kings and vagabonds</em><br/>
<em>Believe the very best</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Yet, before his lips could make contact, Vinnie gasped out. Balthazar opened his eyes as he looked down at Vinnie who now had his hand covering his mouth. He looked like he was in a great deal of pain. “Dakota?” Balthazar said in concern. “Are…” He frowned a little as he saw Vinnie backing up and away from him. His eyes now tightly shut, and his mouth covered. “Are you okay?” He asked.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just shook his head as he ran off. “Wait!” Balthazar shouted as he ran after the shorter man.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar ran after Vinnie as the man ran through the back doors. Maybe that was the emergency exit, he didn’t know. But he had to ensure that the man was okay. He didn’t look well, he looked sick and almost, dare he say panicked? He wasn’t sure, but that was the best thing he could think of to best describe how Vinnie looked at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>Once he noticed that they were in an alleyway, he couldn’t help but frown as he tried to find the shorter man. Hoping and praying that he could find some kind of sign of the man, he was much faster than he thought to be possible. Though, with him not looking well, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten far in the end?</p><p> </p><p>A crash was heard, causing Balthazar to look over and saw a boot clad foot sticking out from behind a knocked over trash can. “Dakota?” Balthazar whispered softly as he slowly made his way toward the boot. Thinking that the boot did, indeed belong to Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Making his way over toward the boot, he saw that it was indeed Vinnie. Laying on the ground as he was breathing heavily. A soft groan escaped Vinnie as he tried to push himself onto his feet but would fall back onto the ground. “Dakota what’s wrong? Are you sick?” Balthazar asked as he knelt down to help the man up. Unsure as to what was going on though, he highly doubted that he would get an answer to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, Vinnie’s voice confused him.</p><p> </p><p>“Get… away Cav…”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry?”</p><p> </p><p>Before he could even think about what was going on, or even think about what it was that Vinnie had even said… Balthazar felt a hand on his chest that had all but thrown him into the wall behind him.</p><p> </p><p>Groaning, he rubbed the back of his head. No bleeding so that was a good sign but, what the heck was that? Blinking, Balthazar saw Vinnie slowly rising to his feet, trembling as he did so. Did he have the strength to get up now? Was he able to get moving on his own now?</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie turned his body around and seemed to just zip himself at Balthazar in a blur of movement that he had trouble keeping up with. The shorter man just snarled a little as he sniffed at Balthazar as if he was some kind of animal. “Dakota?” Balthazar tried to move away, but Vinnie grabbed the taller man to keep him from moving. Before Balthazar could even think, Vinnie started nipping at his neck.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar shuddered at the feeling. The tingling was so much stronger than it ever was before. “Dakota?!” Balthazar tried to get him off, tried to shove him off of him but it seemed that the shorter man was much stronger than he had originally assumed. Vinnie moved from Balthazar’s neck to his lips. Kissing him deeply, wrapped his arm around his waist and pulled him closer. His other hand had reached up and tangled his fingers through the blonde’s hair.</p><p> </p><p>Fighting, he tried to push the shorter man off of him, tried to fight him as best as he could. Getting his free hand up, he slapped Vinnie in the hope of getting him to come to his senses. Though it seemed that all he had accomplished was slapping his glasses off of his face.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie looked back up at him, eyes aglow as no irises or pupils had overcome his eyes. One eye aglow in a bright blue, while the other was aglow in a bright amber.</p><p> </p><p>Eyes widening in shock, Balthazar just stared at the man before him. Was he even a man? He wasn’t human! This wasn’t possible, he should have known, his device should have alerted him but nothing came to mind as Vinnie went back to nipping at his neck or even just kissing him. Balthazar kept trying to fight him off. Trying to get the shorter man to get off of him but it seemed that no matter what, he just couldn’t muster the strength to do so.</p><p> </p><p>Actually, now that he thought about it. His strength was slowly starting to dwindle from him. Was this what had happened to the other people? Had it been Vinnie that was draining people?</p><p> </p><p>He was never the target!</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie was the paranormal creature that was hunting people and draining them!</p><p> </p><p>Tightly shutting his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks as he thought that this was how he was going to die. That this was how he was going to waste away. What a way for his one happy birthday to end on a sad note. Being killed by someone he loved…</p><p> </p><p>When he opened his eyes, he saw that Vinnie was kissing him once again. Balthazar’s eyes were slowly being consumed by darkness. Though for a brief moment he thought that he saw a spark of flames and a mist of… blue maybe spraying out behind Vinnie. He thought that he saw someone rushing toward them but he felt that it wouldn’t have been enough.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar felt his world go dark in that moment but, not before he felt the ground under him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>okay those that guessed that Dakota was the paranormal creature, congrats. But can you guess what he is? it'll be revealed in the next chapter but that may not be posted this time till the weekend or next week. Later.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Truth Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar learns the truth.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, puppy you sure that you gave him enough of those drinks?” asked a familiar male voice.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar opened his eyes a crack as he looked up and saw someone leaning over him. His mind was fuzzy and everything felt rather odd. As if he was numb but could still have some kind of free movement to his body. He just felt oh so very tired.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes I’m sure. It’ll take a bit for it to fully kick in since he did have nearly all of his energy taken. He was hanging on by a thread Blade.” Came a familiar female voice.</p><p> </p><p>Wait, why were Blade and Crystal with him? What happened? Why was he like this in the first place?</p><p> </p><p>“I thought he’d at least regain consciousness at the very least. Normally people wake up by now with the amount you gave him.” Blade said, his face was starting to come into focus. What was that atop of Blade’s head? Squinting his eyes a little, he thought that he saw cat ears resting atop of the man’s head. He blinked a couple times trying to clear his vision before he opened his eyes. Seeing that the man above him wasn’t even facing him, but those ears of his… they were moving.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking, Balthazar reached up shakily toward the ears.</p><p> </p><p>“Blade, look you’ll have to wait till he wakes up so we can ask what he remembers from last night. Plus, I don’t think he’ll like that you are hovering over him like that.” Crystal calmly said.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah but I wanna make sure that he’s gonna be okay. After all, Vincent cares about him and he was so distraught about what happened. I just wanna make sure that he-“ Blade stopped for a moment before letting out a soft sigh. “He’s awake.”</p><p> </p><p>“What makes you say that?” asked Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>“Because he’s rubbing my ear right now.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh!” Crystal shouted as she rushed over to Balthazar’s bedside and shoved Blade out of the way. A crash was heard as the man fell over. “Cavendish, how do you feel?” Crystal asked. He just squinted his eyes as he let out a soft groan. “Okay, still tired. Makes sense with what happened. What do you remember? Do you need help sitting up?” asked Crystal with a tilt of her head.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned a little. Trying to remember what had happened. There was so much that he was trying to remember, though he wasn’t sure what had happened. Closing his eyes for a moment, taking a few deep breaths in the hopes of recalling about last night’s events.</p><p> </p><p>“My birthday…” He whispered softly, weakly.</p><p> </p><p>“Here, drink this it should help with your energy.” Crystal said as she helped the man to sit up on his bed. The blonde groaned a little, feeling a little dizzy though he was able to at least accept the glass of… the strange concoction before drinking it. It actually tasted nice, almost like a new kind of tea brew. “It should kick in soon, though can you tell me what you remember?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned a little as he was trying to think about what had happened last night. The young man remembered going to the bar, having a few drinks and then dancing with Vinnie. Then they were about to kiss until Vinnie ran out and-</p><p> </p><p>Eyes widening, Balthazar started to tremble like a leaf as he whispered “Dakota isn’t human…”</p><p> </p><p>“So you remembered that.” Crystal said with a soft sigh before she sat down on a chair that was nearby. The young man looked up at the young woman before he shuddered at the reminder. The young man looked over and saw Peaches cuddled up with him. How long was she there? He reached over and carefully lifted her and set the bunny on his lap. Just petting her in the hopes of calming his nerves. “What happened before Blade and I arrived?”</p><p> </p><p>Wait what? Before they arrived?</p><p> </p><p>“Ask about that later, I want to know what you saw Cavendish.” Crystal demanded.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, Balthazar took a deep breath in the hopes of calming himself down some more. “Dakota was acting weird. We… we were about to kiss when he suddenly covered his mouth and ran out of the bar.” Crystal leaned forward, seemed that she was trying to understand more of the story that was being told to her. “I found him on the ground and tried to help him up. But he told me to run, I didn’t and was shoved into the wall.”</p><p> </p><p>“I see… what else Cav?”</p><p> </p><p>“He just… started kissing me. It was rather odd and bizarre honestly. But he was growling like some kind of savage beast. I slapped him and it knocked his glasses off of his face and… and…” Eyes widening at the reminder, Balthazar felt panic surging through him. His one hand placed on his forehead as he hunched forward trying to get control over himself. “His eyes were glowing!”</p><p> </p><p>“He was in a frenzy.” Crystal calmly said.</p><p> </p><p>“A what?”</p><p> </p><p>“A frenzy, he doesn’t feed properly.” She calmly said.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s true, Vincent doesn’t feed properly so he pretty much starves himself for months till he loses control.” Blade said, pushing himself up onto his feet as he looked down at the blonde. Balthazar blinked as he looked up at them. He saw that Blade wasn’t human, the cat-like ears gave that away. They sure felt real but… there was one other thing that he wanted answers to. Well, besides what Vinnie was.</p><p> </p><p>Now that he had a better view of Blade, he saw that his appearance had also changed with the new cat ears atop of his head. His dark hair was blown back as if a gust of wind had decided to give him some kind of new wild style. His bangs were now nothing more than a puff of orange that almost seemed to make his eyes glow brighter as they hung over his eyes. Even his pupils had narrowed into slits within pools of golden yellow.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar also noticed the fangs, and the three thin lines that adorn his cheeks that resembled whiskers. Then, there was the claws as Blade scratched at his cheek in some kind of nervous fashion. Finally, the blonde noticed the long fluffy tail that swayed side to side behind him.</p><p> </p><p>“I… I don’t know what’s going on! What is Dakota?! What are you?!” He pointed at Blade then looked over at Crystal as he added “Then of course, how are you so calm?! Did you know that they weren’t human?!”</p><p> </p><p>Crystal and Blade both looked at Balthazar, looked at each other before looking back at him. Blade was the first to speak. “Vincent is an Incubus.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?!”</p><p> </p><p>Crystal nodded her head as she said “It’s true. Haven’t you ever noticed how charged the concerts are?” Balthazar blinked. He had, but just thought it was the musical energy and nothing more. “See, Vinnie feeds on that energy since he refuses to feed directly from people but, it isn’t always enough you see.” Crystal sighed softly before lowering her gaze. “It can help him through the hunger pains so to speak, but he still loses control over himself and lashes out during his hunger spikes. We started to call them ‘frenzies’ due to him not being himself anymore. Blade and I have had to knock him out each time just so we can get him back. I give the victim a special concoction that I have created to give them energy back until they could regain their own energy naturally.”</p><p> </p><p>So, Vinnie was starving himself?</p><p> </p><p>“Then what about Blade here?” asked Balthazar with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I’m a Nekoline.” He said with a chuckle before rubbing at one of his cat ears. “I’m one of Vincent’s oldest well, we’re not really friends but we’re not enemies. I would still look out for the guy no matter what happens.” Blade explained before turning to Crystal. “She on the other hand, has known Vincent for years, she’s his best friend and sister-figure.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, yes he knows that Blade.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is that why you’re so calm? Because you knew Dakota was an Incubus?! Then… how was it that my device hadn’t picked up on Blade or Dakota?!”</p><p> </p><p>Crystal frowned a little before looking up at Blade and sighed softly. She pushed herself up onto her feet as she reached up and grabbed Blade’s fuzzy ear that has the earring. “This here, blocks any hunter’s devices from locating us. Such as the one you’ve had since after the first show. I’ve had to get Vinnie to keep his on him so you wouldn’t find him.”</p><p> </p><p>“You knew-“</p><p> </p><p>“Of course I knew. It’s one of the reasons why I was so hostile toward you at first. Despite my kind nature to help people, I still didn’t trust you near Vinnie thinking you’d hurt him. He’s been through enough as it is.” What did that mean?</p><p> </p><p>“But how did you know-“ Balthazar asked, before Crystal cut him off.</p><p> </p><p>“I could smell the dagger that you possess. How it’s been coated, blessed with pure energy that could easily kill a demon. Then of course the bullets that you had in your possession. How they were coated in different herbs, spices, blood and other purities that could also kill a demon. I didn’t want you to hurt Vinnie so I was trying to keep him safe.” Crystal explained as she let out a soft sigh while rubbing at her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait… what?” Balthazar said as he looked at Crystal with wide eyes. Looking over at Blade, now that he recalled Crystal had shoved him with little issue if any. A demon would be hard to push around even with a strong man, or woman doing the shoving. Turning his gaze back to the young woman, he couldn’t help but ask “Crystal… what are you?”</p><p> </p><p>Crystal’s face was calm, collected, yet her eyes held a hint of amusement.</p><p> </p><p>She rubbed at her face with a deep sigh. Once she was relaxed, Crystal snapped her fingers as a burst of flames shot up around her. Balthazar yelped out in shock thinking he had just caused the woman to combust into flames of hell fire. Blade though just grinned at the sight. Was that man sick in the head?!</p><p> </p><p>When the flames died down, there stood almost a completely different person. Crystal’s hair was much longer, reaching past her waist. Her hair was even a bright white with red highlights that reached from the pair of dog ears resting atop of her head. Eyes were a deep crimson with specks of gold within their depths. There were even fangs and claws having appeared for her. The last thing he saw was the long fluffy white tail that swayed now and again on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>“What the bloody hell are you?!”</p><p> </p><p>“Fire Lycan.” Crystal replied honestly.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked at that one. That… that was impossible. “There aren’t any left.” He replied.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m the last one Cavendish. Hunters made sure of that.” She said with a snarl before leaning over the man, making the blonde nearly afraid of his life. “In fact, I have every damn right to kill you myself for all the hunters that had killed my kind over the hundreds upon hundreds of years that I’ve had to endure knowing that I am the last of my kind.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar stared with wide eyes as he backed up. Peaches just looked up at Crystal and snuggled back on the blonde’s lap. Crystal wouldn’t actually kill him right? Because of something past hunters had done to her kind over the years? Gulping, the young man backed up only to blink as Crystal smirked and pulled herself back.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not going to kill you or anything Cavendish. I know it wasn’t you that did it so harming you for others actions? Nah, that isn’t the right thing to do.” Crystal said with a chuckle before sitting back down on the chair. “Now, is there anything else that you want to ask?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar wasn’t sure what he could ask. He was just in shock over what was going on right now. First of all, he was baffled. Baffled that all three members of the band were demons. That he hadn’t been able to see that or even that his device could even detect it. Looking between Blade and Crystal, he saw that they were just staring at him. Why were they even telling him any of this in the first place?</p><p> </p><p>Before he could even ask, Crystal held up her hand. “We’re only telling you because well, to be honest it would have been wrong not to tell you at this point.” Crystal pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>“But the others-“</p><p> </p><p>“They meant nothing to Vincent. You do, so it’s only right to explain something when you have nearly been killed because of his over feeding.” Blade said with a sigh before rubbing at the back of his head. It seemed that this whole thing was just exhausting them all. “But, we also feel bad about not getting to you sooner.”</p><p> </p><p>“How did you even… you two were gone.” Balthazar asked with confusion in his voice. He wasn’t sure how they would have known what had happened in the first place. It made him want to scream or shout or something. It just seemed that everything was crashing in on the young man. Trying to close in around him and smother him with all of this information. It was nearly overloading him to the point that he was starting to panic it seemed.</p><p> </p><p>“Blade, go get the calming tea.”</p><p> </p><p>“Alright puppy.”</p><p> </p><p>“Stop calling me puppy! I’m not a dog!”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re a wolf, wolves are in a sense related to the dog family aren’t they?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar curled up in a ball on his bed. Peaches of course had jumped off of his lap and just snuggled against his side. As if she could sense that he was going into a panic. Crystal sat on the edge of the bed and rubbing at the blonde’s lap. It seemed that she was trying to comfort him in some way though he couldn’t really be sure. Honestly, all of this was conflicting with everything that he had grown up knowing.</p><p> </p><p>Demons were bad… right?</p><p> </p><p>They were evil… right?</p><p> </p><p>They… they killed didn’t they?</p><p> </p><p>Killed for the thrill of the hunt and to feel the blood stain their claws didn’t they?</p><p> </p><p>Yet, here were two demons that were trying to help him. Trying to comfort him from his overwhelming emotions. Though he still didn’t know what to feel when it came to Vinnie, other than fear of the man for the fact that Vinnie had nearly killed him. With Crystal and Blade, it was kind of iffy but so far he has no reason not to trust them other than the fact that they were demons. But, they hadn’t done anything to him so that didn’t give him a reason not to trust them.</p><p> </p><p>But his original beliefs and the current events were clashing with each other. Making it harder for him to stop thinking about what he was raised to believe, and what was currently happening.</p><p> </p><p>“Here, this should help you calm down.” Crystal said as she held out the cup of tea.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked at it for a moment before his trembling became worse. What if that was poisoned? What if it killed him? Gulping, he started to back away until Crystal wrapped her arm around his shoulders. Her own body started to tremble.</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal you okay?” asked Blade.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m okay, just… reacting to Cav’s emotions.” She whispered softly. Looking over at the blonde, seeing that the man was still panicking and freaking out over his conflicting emotions. “Cavendish, this will help you calm down and clear your thoughts alright?” Crystal gave him a small frown on her face while trying to calm the man down. Though it seemed that the man couldn’t trust her, his conflicting thoughts weren’t helping him in the moment.</p><p> </p><p>So, it seemed that Crystal had to take this into her own hands.</p><p> </p><p>Pinning Balthazar to his bed with her tail, she grabbed the tea and had Blade hand her a funnel. Forcing the funnel in his mouth, she poured the tea down his throat. The young man gagged a little before the contents of the tea were now in his gullet.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal pushed herself off of the man and took her seat back before crossing her arms and glaring at the man. “You gonna stop being difficult now?” She asked.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar coughed a couple times before shooting a glare to Crystal. Though it seemed that the young woman was unfazed by what she had done. Once he got his breathing under control, the young man wheezed “Did you have to do it like that?”</p><p> </p><p>“You weren’t calm and plus you wouldn’t really listen to anything that we had to say.” Crystal calmly said with a shrug before leaning back in her seat. It seemed that she just wanted him to be calm and a little more coherent but then again, she didn’t have to do it that way. She then asked “Is there anything else that you want to know?” The young woman tilted her head a little at the man, knowing it seemed that he still had much to ask though was unsure what it was that he wanted to ask.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned a little before he looked down at his lap. His gaze settling on Peaches for a moment before looking up at Crystal. “Where is Dakota anyway? I’m rather surprised he isn’t in here.” Asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal let out a soft sigh. “He didn’t feel right being in here. He feels like he messed up and just stayed in his trailer for the time being.” She calmly explained before looking up at the blonde before her.</p><p> </p><p>“Better that way.” Balthazar whispered before narrowing his eyes. “I… I can’t believe that I allowed myself to be tricked by that monster-“</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up.” Crystal hissed.</p><p> </p><p>“He nearly killed me-“</p><p> </p><p>“I said shut the fuck up Cavendish!” Balthazar blinked as he stared at Crystal with wide eyes. “Don’t you get it?! I just said that he feels guilt over what happened to you! He never wanted to hurt you! For fucks sake, you even said that he told you to run didn’t he?! He never wanted to hurt you!” She snarled a little, her hands sparking in flames while trying to keep herself in control. “You know what? Fuck this! You want to be a giant man child then so fucking be it!”</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal.” Blade whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“We’ll leave the man child alone for a bit till he can get his fucking head on straight. When you’re ready to talk to Vinnie go talk to him but if I don’t hear anything soon enough I’ll be back.” With that, Crystal shifted back into her human form before marching out of the trailer. Blade of course, shifted back as well and followed the young woman.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar though, he was confused about everything…</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie… was a monster wasn’t he? He nearly killed Balthazar so, didn’t that make him a monster? But, if he had felt guilt over what had happened then, did that still make him a monster? He wasn’t sure but he felt like everything was wrong and he wasn’t sure what to do.</p><p> </p><p>But to think of what his next course of action would be.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I was gonna post it tomorrow but meh, hope you like it and yeah, Vinnie is an Incubus, as for the feathers, that won't be mentioned for a while yet, sorry!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Truth Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Crystal threatens to beat up Balthazar if he doesn't talk to Vinnie. He gets a shock of a lifetime. Or five.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>use this song with lyrics</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xHFzPgupKI&amp;ab_channel=CalebHyles</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar was pacing around in his trailer. It had been a few days since he woke up from another near death. This time though, the near death had been caused by Vinnie. A man that he was in love with but, turned out to have been an Incubus the entire time. Letting out a soft sigh, he didn’t know what he was going to do about this. His heart felt like it was being torn into two pieces.</p><p> </p><p>The half of him that wanted to live a life with Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>While the other half that hated anything to do with demons.</p><p> </p><p>Thinking back to that night, the young man just couldn’t help but feel conflicted to the possibilities that Crystal and Blade were involved in his attack. Even though they told him that his attack was due to lack of feeding on the shorter man’s part, the part of his brain was telling him that it was all planned.</p><p> </p><p>Why else would they leave before the attack?</p><p> </p><p>Why else would they have allowed Vinnie to have gotten that far in the first place when he was feeding from the blonde?</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his face, he let out a loud groan. He hadn’t even spoken to Vinnie since the attack. Didn’t think that he could even bring himself to do so. It just felt like everything was at a crossroads for him. He didn’t know what path to take, which way to turn. To allow himself to be involved with Vinnie even though the man had almost killed him. (Then of course being told that the man was remorseful over what had happened) Or, go in for the kill and go back to his boss to report that Vinnie was the beast and had killed a Nekoline and a Fire Lyan. Though he didn’t think his boss would believe him on that one since it was said that Fire Lycans were already long gone in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man sat down on his couch as he tried to think on what he could do. He wanted to take the right path, wanting to take the path that would allow him to live a normal life with Vinnie but…</p><p> </p><p>He was afraid.</p><p> </p><p>Afraid of what Vinnie would do to him the next time they would meet. Covering his face, he let out a soft sigh trying hard not to allow his feelings to overwhelm him. Yet, he wasn’t sure what he was to do right now. Everything was just so overwhelming and he just didn’t know what to do. He just hoped that he could find a way to leave. There had to be something that he could do to leave. But, then if that was the case he could lose his position in P.I.G and his family would most likely disown him because of it.</p><p> </p><p>Groaning, he was about to push himself up from his couch till a banging was heard at his door. Blinking, he was about to answer till he heard a rather familiar, yet very angry voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish! Answer the fucking door!” shouted Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just rolled his eyes before staying on the couch. There was no way that he was going to allow this. He wasn’t going to talk to her or anyone for that matter. He just wanted some more time to think about everything that was going on. Just needed some more time to think, was that too much to ask for?</p><p> </p><p>“I swear on all that is holy that I’ll kick your ass if you don’t come out here!”</p><p> </p><p>The young man just shook his head. There was no way that she would. Not without exposing herself to everyone that was out there. Breathing deeply, the young man looked over at Peaches, as if hoping the bunny would agree with him in some way. Though, that was impossible since she couldn’t really speak in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Plus, he had made sure that the seal he placed on the door wouldn’t allow anyone with demonic heritage to enter. The young man just sighed softly as he looked back at his bunny who just wiggled his nose.</p><p> </p><p>Soon the door started to wiggle a bit, it seemed that Crystal was trying to open the door on her own. Though that confused him, as a demon shouldn’t be able to touch the door, let along jiggle the handle. Yeah, she couldn’t get in, he made sure that the door would stay locked. Even with the seal in place, it should have been impossible. Plus, it wasn’t like they were even going to go anywhere in the first place. The concert was put on hold while Vinnie ‘recovered’ from an illness that Brick most likely had no idea what it was.</p><p> </p><p>Before he could even think of anything else, a loud sound hit his ears. Almost sounding like some kind of slam before the door of his trailer opened. “How? That was locked!” Then of course, there was the seal. Had he placed it on the door wrong? Was that why Crystal hadn’t cried out from pain?</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but she still has a foot to kick the door in with.” Blade muttered as Crystal marched into the room.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just looked up in shock as Crystal stood before him. Her eyes narrowed as she snarled at the man. “You have wallowed enough time in here Cavendish. You need to stop acting like a damn child and go talk to Vinnie.”</p><p> </p><p>The blonde couldn’t help but narrow his eyes at her in that moment. “Why should I talk to him? What if he just ends up killing me this time like he almost did?” Balthazar snapped. Narrowing his eyes into slits, the young man knew that he was putting a foot in the grave so to speak, since Crystal was a demon, and he was nothing more than a human.</p><p> </p><p>Then of course, there is also the fact that he had no real way to defend himself since he didn’t have any of his weapons on him at the moment since they are in his bag. In his bedroom, by his dresser.</p><p> </p><p>“He is upset Cavendish! Vinnie hasn’t left his trailer since the attack happened! Talk to him!” Crystal all but snarled at him.</p><p> </p><p>“No! He will just try again! How the hell do I know that you aren’t just trying to send me into my demise?!” Shouted Balthazar as he stood up on his feet as he glared at the woman. In a way, it made him happy to see that he was taller than her so, it made him feel better to think that maybe she couldn’t really hurt him.</p><p> </p><p>“What… did you say?” Crystal whispered in a deadly tone.</p><p> </p><p>“You heard me. I bet you are just trying to find a way to get rid of me. I knew you hated the idea that I was a hunter! You told me so, but I bet you’ve been plotting a means to get rid of me. What better way, than to have Dakota drain me till I’m nothing more than a lifeless husk!” Balthazar shouted.</p><p> </p><p>The young woman narrowed her eyes at him. Sparks of flames started to appear from her hands, her shoulders trembled in rage. Almost all around her, her body sparked flames, and it nearly scared Balthazar though he knew that he had indeed, messed up at this point.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, Crystal.” Blade said, making his way over toward the young woman. “Come on, he was through an ordeal. He was almost drained to death but…” Blade was cut off as Crystal placed a hand on his chest. “Oh shit.” He said before the woman shoved him. Balthazar stared at the scene with wide eyed shock. Because in that moment he knew that he had screwed himself over.</p><p> </p><p>Blade had gone flying through the door. A loud crash was heard and for a moment, maybe even a cat was screeching before the loud blaring of a car alarm hit his ears. Balthazar couldn’t help but stare in shock as he just looked between Crystal and the door. Blade’s voice echoed through the silence as he shouted “I’m okay!”</p><p> </p><p>Yeah, he knew for a fact that he messed up right now.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal marched toward him, grabbed the blonde by his shirt and lifted him off of the ground. How that was, he had no idea since Crystal was around Vinnie’s height and yet she could easily lift him like she was actually taller than him. Maybe it was her demon strength? He had no idea but hoped and prayed that she wouldn’t kill him in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Now you listen here you little shit!” Crystal snarled. Her eyes glowing for a moment. “Vinnie was bawling his eyes out the last time I checked on him. That was this morning, and he feels nothing but guilt over what had happened.” Balthazar blinked as he stared at the woman before him. It was amazing that she hadn’t fully transformed just because of her anger alone.</p><p> </p><p>Though when she mentioned that Vinnie had been crying? That made his heart clench painfully at the idea. He had never seen Vinnie cry, or even hear of him crying. No wait, he saw Vinnie cry at the first show and he had reacted back then as well. Even from the beginning, he didn’t like the man crying.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, his fear…</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t be afraid of him! Vinnie wouldn’t have tried to kill you! He never would have thought of harming you! Are you forgetting that he had actually protected you a few times? Then of course, he did run off on you remember?!” Crystal shouted at the man. Causing Balthazar to frown a little at that. Okay yes, Vinnie had saved him a few times and for that he had been grateful from such a thing but, did that matter? Wouldn’t Vinnie have gone and done such a thing if he was trying to win someone’s affections so he could feed off of them? “He wouldn’t and you know that! You are just making excuses Cavendish!”</p><p> </p><p>The blonde stared at her with wide eyes. “How did you-“</p><p> </p><p>“Empath!” She shouted. Snarling, eyes glowing brighter. “A thought comes a feeling and a feeling comes a thought. Now listen to me you fucking asshole!” She was very vulgar with her words. “You are going to talk to Vinnie. You are going to march your skinny ass-“ Did she really have to say it like that? “To Vinnie’s trailer and talk to him and get an understanding and learn that not all demons are as bad as you make it seem. And he can tell you everything that I didn’t.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why can you not tell me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because it isn’t my right to do so! Vinnie is the one that has to tell you everything, even about the dreams and weird visions that you’ve been having.”</p><p> </p><p>“How did you-“</p><p> </p><p>“Because I’ve known him long enough to know about what happens in his life! To know all of the pain and suffering that he’s had to endure because of-“ Crystal stopped herself as she looked away. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before dropping the blonde onto the floor. “Just go talk to him. If I know that you didn’t speak to him, then I’ll hunt your ass down and <em>you</em> will know what it’s like to be the one <em>hunted.</em> Do you understand me?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar nodded as he looked up at Crystal. Her gaze was filled with so much rage, he hadn’t known that she could be that angry before. It made him fearful for his life more than before though she seemed to have decided to leave him alone in the trailer in that moment. Just as Crystal was at the door, Blade walked up with a groan. “Puppy, you have to stop tossing me like that when you’re angry.”</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up.” Crystal snarled before she walked past him. “Come on, I’ll take care of the bruising I caused you. Cavendish has some learning to do it seems.”</p><p> </p><p>With that, the two were gone. Though not before Blade looked into the trailer, giving Balthazar a frown as he mouthed “She’s right you know, see him before she kicks your ass” and then he walked off.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just couldn’t help but stare in wide eyed shock. He had no idea what had just happened but, he knew that in some weird way Crystal was right. If he wanted answers, he would have to talk to Vinnie but… could he overcome his fear even for a moment long enough to even talk to him?</p><p> </p><p><em>’I should at least talk to him… or else Crystal will hunt me down and I’d rather not have that happen.’</em> Balthazar thought to himself with a deep sigh.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Balthazar had no idea how he managed to scrape up what courage he had left in him right now. But what he did know was that he had arrived to Vinnie’s trailer… a few hours after Crystal had left. He hadn’t been sure about anything, but knew that he had to talk to Vinnie. Or else Crystal would keep her threat to him. A threat he knew for a fact that she would indeed keep.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up at the door, he wasn’t sure if he could keep the nerve to open up the door. It just seemed rather odd, him… a hunter going into the den of an Incubus that had nearly killed him. Yet, at the same time a part of him couldn’t see Vinnie as such. Could only see the man as well, just Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Closing his eyes for a brief moment before taking a deep breath in the hope of calming his nerves. He knew that he was feeling rather frazzled but that was to be expected wasn’t it? After he had gone through days ago, but knew that this was something that he would have to overcome.</p><p> </p><p>Opening his eyes, the young man knocked at the door. He didn’t really hear Vinnie saying much of anything. It made him wonder what had happened. Had Vinnie gone out maybe? No, Crystal said that he hadn’t left his trailer at all since they brought Balthazar back to his trailer. So, he had to be here wouldn’t he? Frowning, he went to knock again until a voice stopped him. He could hear Vinnie… he was singing this time.</p><p> </p><p>The man really loved his music.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>How did I live in a kingdom of thieves</em><br/>
<em>And people who say things they don't really mean, really mean</em><br/>
<em>You're only everything I ever dreamed</em><br/>
<em>Ever dreamed of, ever dreamed of</em><br/>
<em>You must be kidding me, did you really think</em><br/>
<em>I could say no</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little. He couldn’t hear any instruments being played. Only heard Vinnie’s voice singing to lyrics. Was this a song that he was working on or was it something that he was listening to? Frowning, the young man reached for the door. It was unlocked. Interesting to say the least but, then again Vinnie was a demon so he wouldn’t get hurt like a human would. So makes sense that he doesn’t always take his safety into consideration. (Or the fact that the lock could still be broken never crossed his mind. Nah, not at all)</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I want you for a lifetime</em><br/>
<em>So if you're gonna think twice, baby</em><br/>
<em>I don't wanna know, baby, I don't wanna know</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Walking into the trailer, he looked around from his standing point. Wondering if Vinnie was even in the living room or had gone out to his bedroom. Though there was really no way of knowing since Vinnie’s voice just seemed too echoed through the room.  As his gaze swept around the room, his turquoise eyes soon landed on the couch. For lying there was Vinnie. His eyes closed, glasses gone yet he could make out the tear tracks that had ran down his cheeks. <em>'</em><em>Did I cause that?’</em></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Everything is just right</em><br/>
<em>But if you're gonna think twice, baby</em><br/>
<em>I don't wanna know, baby, I don't wanna know</em><br/>
<em>I really don't think what everyone else believes</em><br/>
<em>So why do I say things I don't really mean, really mean</em><br/>
<em>I'm only crying 'cause I never dreamed</em><br/>
<em>It'd take this long, it'd take this long</em><br/>
<em>I want you for a lifetime</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The shorter man reached up and wiped at his face. A wave of fresh tears started to stream down his cheeks. Balthazar couldn’t help but frown. His heart ached at the thought of Vinnie being in pain. How was it that the man could show such strong signs of pain? Was it possible that Vinnie has indeed been looking out for Balthazar the whole time they’ve known each other or was it indeed an act? He had no idea, but he wanted to know.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>So if you're gonna think twice, baby</em><br/>
<em>I don't wanna know, baby, I don't wanna know</em><br/>
<em>Everything is just right</em><br/>
<em>But if you're gonna think twice, baby</em><br/>
<em>I don't wanna know, baby, I don't wanna know</em><br/>
<em>Don't think twice, don't think twice</em><br/>
<em>Don't think twice, baby, don't think twice</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?” Balthazar called out, though Vinnie showed no sign of hearing him. Was it possible that the man couldn’t- wait are those headphones on his head? Of course he’s wearing headphones. Why else wouldn’t he have heard Balthazar knocking at the door earlier? Why else would this have been easier to try to contact the curly haired man in the first place? No, it couldn’t be easy at all. Couldn’t even be simple for him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>If you want to take it to an even higher level</em><br/>
<em>All you gotta do is say the word, you know I'll follow</em><br/>
<em>If you wanna take it to an even higher level</em><br/>
<em>I don't, I don't</em><br/>
<em>If you want to make it happen, nothing's impossible</em><br/>
<em>All you gotta do is say the word, the walls will crumble</em><br/>
<em>If you want to make it happen, nothing's impossible</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie sniffled a little, making Balthazar’s heart clench a little. He knew that he still had to ask his questions before he would make his verdict. If Vinnie was indeed a good person and not just a monster that would want to have hurt him or was… or he had been trying to kill him from over feeding on the man. The blonde couldn’t help but shudder at the memory itself. (Even though the sensations were rather pleasurable but he was still terrified over how it was happening)</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I want you for a lifetime</em><br/>
<em>So if you're gonna think twice, baby</em><br/>
<em>I don't wanna know, baby, I don't wanna know</em><br/>
<em>Everything is just right</em><br/>
<em>But if you're gonna think twice, baby</em><br/>
<em>I don't wanna know, baby, I don't wanna know</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar had no idea if this was how Vinnie really felt. He wanted to reach out but he just felt like he had no right to even touch him. But at the same time, he was afraid to even touch him. Thinking if he did, that Vinnie would try to feed from the blonde. Even though he wasn’t really sure as to what was going to happen, but the part of him that was still afraid of Vinnie, wouldn’t allow him to think more about what it was that was going to happen. Or, what could happen.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Kiss me once, kiss me twice, kiss me three times</em><br/>
<em>Cross the line</em><br/>
<em>Don't think twice, don't think twice</em><br/>
<em>Don't think twice, baby, don't think twice</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar saw Vinnie biting his lower lip. As if the man was trying to keep himself from crying out. A part of him wanted to reach out and wipe away at Vinnie’s tears. Yet, he just couldn’t bring himself to do so. Taking a deep breath he started to make his way over to the curly haired man, knowing that if he was going to get any kind of attention from the man, he may have to shout at him. That was one way to get his attention without touching him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Kiss me once, kiss me twice, kiss me three times</em><br/>
<em>Cross the line</em><br/>
<em>Kiss me once, kiss me twice, kiss me three times</em><br/>
<em>Be mine</em><br/>
<em>Don't think twice, don't think twice</em><br/>
<em>Don't think twice, baby, don't think twice</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota!” shouted Balthazar, hoping that the song had at least ended or was quiet enough for the shorter man to hear him.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie slowly opened his eyes a crack as he looked up at Balthazar. Only for his eyes to widen in shock before he quickly shot up from his laying position on the couch, grabbed his sun glasses and placed them upon his face to hide his eyes. What was with that anyway? Why would he keep covering his eyes? “Cav… I… what… what brings you by?” asked Vinnie, his voice sounding a little horse, had he been singing the entire time?</p><p> </p><p>“I want answers Dakota.” Balthazar demanded.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees as his chin rested on the back of his hands. “Go ahead, ask.” He whispered softly, his voice still sounding a little choked up. Balthazar knew that he should ask the man if he was okay but he had to know. He wanted to know what it was that was going on. Wanted to make sure that he was okay but, he knew that his concerns for Vinnie would have to wait for the time being.</p><p> </p><p>“I want to know, was anything that we did real?” Balthazar asked, Vinnie didn’t answer, or even ask anything. It seemed that the shorter man was waiting for Balthazar to keep going. To let all of this off of his chest so to speak. “Did you even care about our friendship? Did you save me just so you could gain my trust and use it against me later?” The blonde asked, his voice starting to choke up a little. “Were we even friends?!”</p><p> </p><p>“Cav…”</p><p> </p><p>“Or were you just waiting for the right moment to try to kill me? To drain me from your feeding because you hadn’t had a so called ‘proper’ feeding in months?!” Balthazar shouted, his eyes tightly shut as he tried to keep his emotions steady, to keep himself calm and professional yet he was already breaking. Already knowing that he couldn’t keep his emotions in check and it hurt him all the more.</p><p> </p><p>But, he couldn’t help but feel hurt. The blonde was hurt because he loved Vinnie and he still did. Which made the pain so much worse for him but he wasn’t sure what he could do. Tightly shutting his eyes, he added “How can you be so cruel and selfish to me Dakota? I thought we were friends but you used me didn’t you? Just so you could get some kind of feeding out of me. Even though I didn’t know what you were… but-“</p><p> </p><p>“Cruel… selfish?” Vinnie whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“It was cruel to lead me on like we were friends! Selfish that you could have only seen me as some kind of food source-“</p><p> </p><p>“No, you know what’s really cruel? What’s really selfish?” Vinnie whispered softly before a dark laugh escaped him. “What’s cruel, is finding a love that I can never have.” Vinnie hissed. “A love, that I have watched die in my arms twice. Hearing that they have died twice.” Wait what? “Cruel, is even though I have gone out of my way to ensure that they were safe. That no matter what happened to me, no matter the injury that they would stay safe.” Vinnie grit his teeth, trying to keep himself from crying it appeared.</p><p> </p><p>“Cruel, is trying not to fall in love with the same soul over, and over again because they kept coming back, being ‘made’ for me to love.” Huh? “Cruel, is trying not to fall in love with the same soul but I still do. Even when I don’t even try looking for them after the second time I meet them.” Second… what is he talking about?</p><p> </p><p>“Selfish, is wanting justice, revenge on the people who killed the love of my life over and over again. I killed… I’ve killed to get justice for the love of my life but it was empty. It didn’t make me feel better, didn’t bring who I lost back to life. Selfish, is wanting them to be happy, even if it wasn’t with me. Even if I knew that I couldn’t love anyone else, but they would still fall in love with me either way. Selfish, was trying… was trying to keep my heart at a distance so I wouldn’t fall in love just so they could live!”</p><p> </p><p>Standing up onto his feet, his eyes now looking up at Balthazar with tears streaming down his face. “The last cruel and selfish thing that I had done… was trying not to fall in love with someone, who hates me now because I hadn’t meant to feed from them. Trying to keep them safe from myself when I had felt my hunger getting the best of me. Only for him to follow me and I end up attacking him! Feeding him to the point that I… that I nearly killed him!”</p><p> </p><p>More tears rolled down his cheeks as he whimpered. “Cruel… is because I know I fucked up with you. Because I know I don’t deserve you! Because no matter what, I know that I can never be happy because I’m destined to be alone. Because I nearly killed you, of all people I never wanted to hurt you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota, what are you going on about?!” Balthazar shouted, he felt confused and hurt at the same time. He hadn’t meant to hurt the man before him, but it seemed that what Balthazar had said had indeed, done such a thing.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Vinnie said with a sniffle.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean over and over? I don’t understand.”</p><p> </p><p>Wiping at his eyes, Vinnie blinked up at the blonde before lowering his gaze at the floor. It seemed that he hadn’t meant to give out so much information but, couldn’t have stopped himself. Having gone on a rant that he had let out information that he hadn’t meant on what was being said. “Cavendish.” Vinnie began, causing the blonde to stare at him with a brow raised. “You see, I’m about six hundred years old.” What? “And well, I’ve fallen in love with you a few times. In your past lives, you are the fifth life of the same person that I’ve fallen in love with over and over again.” Vinnie looked away with a small blush on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Wait what?</p><p> </p><p>How is that possible? That can’t be possible! It shouldn’t <em>be</em> possible! Shaking his head, the blonde man just stared at the shorter man before him as he tried to think on what it was that he could say. What he could do. But, then something hit him. The picture that his sister had sent him. Reaching into his phone, he pulled up the picture that Zoey had sent him. If Vinnie was as old as he claimed then…</p><p> </p><p>“Is this you?” asked Balthazar as he showed Vinnie the picture.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, that’s me with Katherina Cavendish.”</p><p> </p><p>Wait… what? He… he was with his grandmother’s sister? But… but…</p><p> </p><p>“That was your previous life Cav.”</p><p> </p><p>What?</p><p> </p><p>“I held her as she died…”</p><p> </p><p>What?!</p><p> </p><p>“It hurt me so much as I held her, watching her die in my arms being unable to do anything to save her. It still eats at me even now.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar started to feel darkness starting to circle around him. He didn’t know what was going on other than the room spinning. He felt himself falling toward the floor. Though, he was sure that he felt a pair of warm arms wrapping around him as if to keep him from hitting the floor.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yeeeeeeeah, couldn't help myself. I still have a few chapters ahead that are done, but I want the reveal done ya know? also the song used should be the last song for the story since I don't have in mind any other songs to use. Hope you liked this reveal.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Truth Part 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vinnie reveals some of his abilities. One is shocking for Balthazar as it seems he's experienced him using that ability before without knowing.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vinnie knew that he had said too much. Far too much, that was something he could admit too. After all, why would Balthazar faint at the reveal of the Incubus being in love with the last four lives of the man before him? <em>’Crystal is going to slap me into next week…’</em> Vinnie winced, knowing that should Crystal find out about this that she was most likely going to kick his ass.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the shorter man sat down on a chair that he had pulled over to the couch. Since Balthazar fainted, Vinnie had set the taller man onto the couch to make him a little more comfortable. He knew that the blonde was going to have a lot of questions to ask, and he was mentally preparing for such an ordeal.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, he didn’t want to answer some questions that the blonde could have, but knew that if it was something that was easy to answer on him, (such as emotionally easy) then he would. Other questions, maybe hold off on that for another day till this was easier on Balthazar to grip on.</p><p> </p><p>Running a hand through his thick curly locks, Vinnie just couldn’t help but watch Balthazar as he slept. In a strange way, he truly reminded him of Katherina the most. She was always a peaceful sleeper for sure, and Balthazar here was the same way it seemed. Though, thinking back most of the other Balthazar’s were similar when it came to their sleeping habits, one had trouble sleeping most nights due to nightmares. Another had no true desire to sleep most of the time due to having a creative storm when it came to music and so on.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, the curly haired man couldn’t help but watch Balthazar. Waiting, just waiting for the man to wake up. Wondering if he was still exhausted from the feeding.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie shuddered at the reminder.</p><p> </p><p>It was the one thing that he hated about himself. How it was part of his nature, and he knew that. Accepted most of it for the most part but at the same time he just couldn’t bring himself to feed properly and because of that choice? That decision? It made him feel disgusted with himself because whenever his hunger reached past his breaking point he would attack the first person that was near him. Thankfully, he wouldn’t tear anyone’s clothes…</p><p> </p><p>That was a line he’d <em>never </em>want to cross and hasn’t thus far.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the shorter man closed his eyes as he whispered “I’m an idiot. I should have just sent him away in the first place before it had gotten this far.” Opening his eyes once again, the shorter man looked down at the blonde before he leaned back in his seat. There was no telling how long it would be till Balthazar awakened.</p><p> </p><p>Could be hours for all he knew. Then of course he couldn’t try to shake him awake, unsure if that would only make Vinnie feed from the skin to skin contact. That was something he couldn’t afford to do.</p><p> </p><p>Hunching himself forward, hands dangling between his knees, he mumbled about how he was such an idiot. That he shouldn’t have put on so much information onto Balthazar right away and it made him feel all the more disgusted with himself over what had happened. Had he really just caved with the emotional overload?</p><p> </p><p>Revealing so much of his past without thinking of the consequences? He wasn’t sure, but he still felt so terrible about it. Made him think that maybe he should just leave and never come back. Maybe Balthazar would be safer that way?</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes in confusion before he lifted his head a little and saw that Balthazar was staring at him. He looked so exhausted but he seemed to be wide awake at least. “Hey Cav.” Vinnie said, unsure as to what more he could say. Unsure if there was anything else that he could say in the first place. It just seemed as if the words would die in his throat before anything would pass his lips.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“You fainted when I mentioned about… um… past lives. Me knowing your past lives and uh…” Honestly, he didn’t know what he could say to that point. It just seemed as if everything that had happened to him so far just tried to smother the shorter man and it made him feel terrible for it.</p><p> </p><p>“That wasn’t a dream?” asked the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, it was real. Need help up?” Vinnie asked, hoping that maybe Balthazar wouldn’t need help. Wouldn’t need Vinnie to touch him, because right now Vinnie was still… may still end up feeding from Balthazar without meaning too.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar shook his head before he managed to push himself up only to frown when he noticed that he was laying on the couch of Vinnie’s trailer. “How did-“</p><p> </p><p>“I uh… I caught you before you hit the floor. I shouldn’t have but I knew that I couldn’t just let you get hurt ya know?” Vinnie answered with a small smile. Yeah, he knew that touching Balthazar was wrong right now, but he just couldn’t allow the man to fall and get hurt. It was painful just nearly killing him. Allowing him to get hurt was nearly as painful.</p><p> </p><p>Looking back down at the ground, the Incubus peeked up at the blonde before him. Knowing that he had many questions and Vinnie had to answer them as best as he could. That was just how Balthazar was and he knew that better than anyone. Balthazar looked up at the curly haired man before swinging his legs over the edge of the couch and stared at Vinnie. As if he was trying to calculate everything that had happened thus far.</p><p> </p><p>“I understand if your still scared of me Cav. I won’t blame you for it after what I did to you. I get it, I’m a monster to you. I don’t want you to be scared of me but well, I won’t force you to change what you feel-“</p><p> </p><p>“Then explain it to me Dakota.” Balthazar cut him off. Vinnie blinked at that. Did he hear right? Was his ears working right now or did he actually hear Balthazar Cavendish asking him to explain something to him? To explain Vinnie’s nature to him or to explain his powers or whatever it was that was wanted/needed to be explained? “I wish to know why you did, what you did before I decide to pass judgement. If anyone decides if you’re a monster, it should be me as you are, after all the one that attacked me.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie winced a little at that. Knowing that this was going to be a long day for sure though he just hoped that it wouldn’t overwhelm the blonde in the long run.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just stared at Vinnie for a moment before letting out a deep sigh. “So, why did you do it?” asked the blonde. Causing Vinnie to blink his eyes in confusion. Before he could even ask the taller man what it was he meant, well the blonde beat him to it. “Why did you attack me? I know Crystal told me bits and pieces of the information but I want to hear it from you. Why did you do it?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Lowering his gaze, Vinnie knew that this was something that Balthazar had a right to know. It was part of his nature and it was something that he did hate about himself but it had to be done.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the incubus started to explain. “See, as you know I can feed from the lust of anyone. Humans, demons, anything that is well, feed able.” The curly haired man looked up and saw that Balthazar was leaning over and stared at him. As if asking him to keep going. “But, I had stopped feeding from people when I first met you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, not <em>you</em> you but…. The first Balthazar Cavendish.” Vinnie responded before giving a sad smile. Taking a deep breath, he went on. “I didn’t feel right feeding from anyone, even him. So I had found other means to feed but it wasn’t enough most of the time.” The curly haired man let out a soft sigh before running a hand through his thick locks. Looking up at Balthazar he saw that he was trying to understand him, and still listening.</p><p> </p><p>Which he was thankful.</p><p> </p><p>So, he kept going on with his tale. “So, I found a means of being in crowded places. Seeping off of the energy from people that way and it was in a way enough to help sustain me to a small degree but it was never enough. I have a bigger hunger compared to other Incubi.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, that is a story for another time.” Vinnie gave a nervous chuckle. Not wanting to go over that tale right now but he hoped that it was something he’d never have to explain.</p><p> </p><p>Leaning back in his seat, the curly haired man tried to think of a means of explaining more about his ‘feeding’ methods. “I have also figured out that I don’t have to fuck someone to feed.” Balthazar blushed like mad at that, causing Vinnie to chuckle. It was cute seeing the man before him blush. “I can easily just feed being in crowded places, such as cafes, delis, or even my own shows.” He chuckled a little before lowering his gaze as he sighed softly. Feeling like his body was already starting to break down on him, he was still hungry but not as badly as before. Though he figured that was also due to stress.</p><p> </p><p>“Yet you still go into these ‘frenzies’?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, Vinnie whispered “Even though I do feed in that way, it still isn’t enough to sustain me for long periods of time. I still get hungry, I don’t feed properly because we feed properly through sex but, I refuse to do it.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned, Vinnie was starting to think that maybe the blonde was starting to understand the reasoning for it. At least, the way his eyes seemed to sparkle with the way his thoughts could dance about and it made Vinnie smile a little back at the man. “It’s because I was in love and still, am in love.” Leaning back on his seat, he let out a chuckle as he said “I refuse to sleep with anyone because that would make me disloyal to him… you? Whoever you end up becoming next. I refuse to sleep around because of it.”</p><p> </p><p>It seemed, that the blonde wasn’t expecting that for he stared at Vinnie with wide eyes from shock. Nodding his head, Vinnie just shrugged as he went on. “Sure, any and all Incubi could feed while still being in love but, I’ve learned from the human methods that it isn’t right. It isn’t faithful, its wrong and I won’t do that to anyone. I can’t, it would make me… I don’t know honestly.” Vinnie just shrugged before letting out a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“So, you refused to feed properly for who knows how long-“</p><p> </p><p>“About over four hundred years.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, because of how long you’ve been doing this you’ve started to go into this frenzy state… um… when exactly?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Around three hundred years. My body isn’t meant to feed the way I have been but I still won’t allow myself to feed any way else but how I have been.” Vinnie responded before lowering his gaze back onto the floor.</p><p> </p><p>“Did my other… um… lives? Know about this?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie shook his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Why? Why didn’t you ever tell them then? If they were… me? Then wouldn’t I have-“</p><p> </p><p>“You were freaking out after I fed from you Cav, I’m pretty sure your past lives wouldn’t have accepted it either. I was afraid, I’ll admit but I figured it was easer that way. Easier not to tell you-“</p><p> </p><p>“Did you ever feed from me in past lives?! Did we ever-“</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish! Calm down! No, I never fed from your past lives, and we never even got that far in the first place so no, we never did anything.” Lowering his gaze, he let out a soft sigh. “Look, I don’t want to talk more about your past lives right now. You’re still in shock over everything and this isn’t helping anything! If anything, it’s making your panic worse, we can talk more about that at a different time but first… you need to understand that I’d never hurt you willingly. I did try to warn you to leave me alone and you didn’t listen. You nearly got yourself killed when I tried to warn you, if it wasn’t for Crystal hearing the chain I would have-“</p><p> </p><p>“How was she able to do so?”</p><p> </p><p>Right, Balthazar wouldn’t have known about that. Looking up at the blonde, he saw that he was pretty confused and would need an explanation. “See, this gold chain of mine can let out a high pitch sound that only Crystal can hear so she rushes to me and gets Blade to knock me out. Though, they were really hard on me that time, had to head-butt me.” Vinnie rubbed at his forehead. Even though there was no bruise, the memory itself was still there.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked up at the man before him. Seeming to be trying to process everything that was being said to him or at the very least that <em>had </em>been said to him so far. Honestly, Vinnie wasn’t sure if that would be enough to convince Balthazar if there was more to know that the man wasn’t really out to hurt him. That hurting Balthazar was the last thing that Vinnie would ever want to do to the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>But it didn’t make him any less worried.</p><p> </p><p>“What kind of abilities do you have then?” What? Was he actually trying to ask him about his nature? Vinnie just blinked his eyes at him in confusion, feeling like he was hearing things in that moment. Though it seemed that he was far too quiet for too long as Balthazar frowned at him. “Do you not wish to share that with me?” He asked, not sounding disappointed but concerned for Vinnie. (Or was that worry for himself?)</p><p> </p><p>That made his heart beat a little quicker in his chest. Maybe he had really fallen in love with this life as well as the others, even though he had tried so hard not to do so. His heart would always pick Balthazar’s soul that much was for sure though he didn’t want it to be true this time around.</p><p> </p><p>Biting his lower lip, Vinnie tried to think of his abilities that he could share with the blonde. Sure there was one that he didn’t think was really important so he’d leave that one out for the time being but he could at least share more about his culture with him right?</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you see with an Incubi, we can do many things.”</p><p> </p><p>“Such as?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, uh… hm…” He tried to think on how to explain his abilities and culture. Though at the same time he wasn’t sure if the blonde would even be able to understand. But, he had to at least try right? “Well, you know how we are demons based off of lust and love right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I think I’ve read that somewhere.” Balthazar said with a nod.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, that is true but it can be done in a manner of ways. It can either be by our presents itself such as how you’ve seen people at my shows.” Vinnie calmly explained before leaning back, crossing his arms as he let out a soft sigh. “The other is by direct eye contact but that is a stronger form of that ability.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, so when you were saying about people falling in love with you by staring into your eyes-“</p><p> </p><p>“It was true.”</p><p> </p><p>“But your wearing sunglasses-“</p><p> </p><p>“Well yeah but, these babies here.” The curly haired man said while tapping at his sunglasses. “They keep people from falling in love with me. It’s why when they shifted and showed my eye to you, that I asked you not to remove them.”</p><p> </p><p>“But I saw your eye so-“</p><p> </p><p>“Has to be both eyes Cav.” Vinnie said with a chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blushed a little before looking away. It seemed that he hadn’t been expecting to reply with a laugh. It made Vinnie just think on how cute the blonde was. No matter the life, the man, the soul that he possessed was still as adorable as it was in every life. That was something that he knew that would never change and for that, he was thankful but then again…</p><p> </p><p>He would have loved the man, no matter what life he was in. Vinnie could never change the love that he had for the man before him.</p><p> </p><p>“What else?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m super strong and fast. Though due to lack of proper feeding I’m weak compared to others of my kind.” The demon replied with a shrug of his shoulders with a soft sigh. “I’m still stronger compared to a human though so don’t get any funny ideas.” He said with a chuckle before sighing softly. The curly haired man looked over at Balthazar as he wondered what more he could say.</p><p> </p><p>Looking toward his window, the demon tried to think on what else he could say. Something that would explain something more to Balthazar that would show that he wasn’t as much of a monster as Vinnie himself believed himself to be. Even though… he still thought himself to be a monster, he never wanted to be seen as such to the man before him.</p><p> </p><p>“What else can you do? Or at least what else can Incubi do?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, most Incubi can change their reproductive organs.” Vinnie said with a simple shrug of the shoulders. As if it wasn’t a big deal. Which, to him it really wasn’t that impressive.</p><p> </p><p>“What? How is that possible?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, it’s hard to explain but it’s mostly because Incubi are actually all bisexual so because of that same sex couples are pretty common among my kind.” The demon replied with a shrug of his shoulders before chuckling. It seemed that the bit of information was something that Balthazar couldn’t fully comprehend. Though there was still more that he had to share with the man. This was something that he knew he’ll get yelled at for but, it was something that was better out in the open than rather being hidden.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing the back of his neck, Vinnie calmly said “Now, that is for lower case Incubi though. A high rank Incubi like me and my family we can take that ability further.”</p><p> </p><p>“How?” The blonde responded.</p><p> </p><p>“We can actually switch our sex entirely. From internally and externally. It’s difficult for any other ranking Incubi but for me? It’s as easy as breathing actually.” Vinnie said with a chuckle before looking at the blonde before him. Wondering if he would even ask anything about that ability. Though he had to admit that, in a way the blonde had already seen that ability of his.</p><p> </p><p>What he hadn’t expected was for Balthazar’s words to cut through the silence like a knife through butter. “Show me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh… what?” Okay, that wasn’t something that he had expected to hear. It wasn’t very common that someone would ask him to just suddenly change his sex like that but at the same time it wasn’t like it could be a bad thing in the first place. More so since Balthazar already knew who he was. Or at the very least, <em>what</em> he was.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, the demon looked up at the blonde man. Wondering what he was to do. Wondering if Balthazar was even going to be mad in the first place. There was so much that could happen, though he couldn’t be sure if the man was even going to be happy about it. Yup, there was going to be a shouting match most likely, a one sided one to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing his face, the young man calmly said “Just don’t shout at me alright?”</p><p> </p><p>“Um… okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Pushing himself up, Vinnie looked down at Balthazar for a moment. Wondering what his responds would be the moment he saw the ‘other’ Vinnie Dakota that he had created. Or, at the very least the ‘female’ Dakota that he used now and again just to ensure he could get away in plain sight. It was a weird thing for humans to even comprehend but it was something that he had learned to deal with since they would never know. He’d just claim that the other him was his twin sister or something along those lines.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and focused his energy that would surround him. He could feel its warmth as it filled him, filling every fiber of his entire being. Taking a deep breath, the demon kept his eyes closed while keeping his energy focused and even trying to ensure that he could keep up with this transformation of his.</p><p> </p><p>Once he opened his eyes, he saw Balthazar staring at Vinnie with wide eyed shock and surprise.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re that woman! From the park when I was looking for you and the skating rink!” Balthazar shouted out in shock.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie couldn’t help but rub the back of his (her?) head as he stared at the shocked man before him. Hm, well maybe he should start thinking of himself as a woman now that he was in the body of one? It was very confusing and it made him want to rip his now long, curly hair out of his… her, head.</p><p> </p><p>Giggling a little, the woman took a seat next to Balthazar, even noticing the blush that was staining his cheeks at the sight of Vinnie’s female appearance. “How?” He asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you see my family’s biology is like that of an oyster.”</p><p> </p><p>“Pardon?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah! It's what higher Incubi do, they change between male and female! Just like oysters!"</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just blandly stared at Vinnie as the woman turned to him. She saw his stare and knew that he was very unimpressed with her analogy it seemed. “Oysters are the best analogy you can come up with?” He questioned.</p><p> </p><p>“What? You have something better?” Vinnie remarked with a smirk on her face.</p><p> </p><p>It seemed that had shut the man up. Vinnie couldn’t help but smile all the more as she turned herself a little more to stare at the man. She felt like Balthazar was a little upset with her. Not that she could blame him for it after all. The demon had pretty much tricked the blonde a couple times with this form of hers so because of that, it would make sense that he’d be upset with her.</p><p> </p><p>The woman couldn’t help but sigh as Balthazar just stared at her with wide eyed shock. It seemed that he was trying to process everything that had happened. He had just witnessed some form of transformation that much Vinnie knew for a fact that humans weren’t used too. After all, it wasn’t a thing where someone would just change from male to female in front of someone.</p><p> </p><p>“You <em>tricked</em> me?!” shouted Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie winced a little before shaking her head. “I wasn’t trying to trick you I promise. That was the last thing that I wanted to do.” She replied before running a hand through her long hair. It was something that she wasn’t used to feeling due to the lack of time spent in this form but, she was in this form now so may as well use this form for the time being. “I sometimes use this form once in a while when I want to be alone. To sketch people, objects, scenery and so on.” Vinnie shrugged her shoulders as she looked away.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar remained silent.</p><p> </p><p>“So, when I saw how upset you looked on the bench… I felt like it had something to do with me. Crystal had warned me that you seemed upset or at least tired or something. Oh right, you were having a rough night or something like that.” Vinnie said with a thoughtful frown on her face before looking down at her lap. “After you left, I rushed to the nearby café and shifted back into my male form before anyone could question anything and put on my jacket that I had hidden nearby and went to meet up with you only to see that you were talking to yourself.”</p><p> </p><p>The blonde still hadn’t spoken and it made Vinnie worried that Balthazar was all the more upset with her. Taking a deep breath, she looked up and blinked as she looked up at him. Saw that the blonde still wasn’t looking at her. Just looking down at the floor it seemed. “I get it, I used this form to speak to you so you wouldn’t know it was me. I figured, you wouldn’t have been as open with me as ‘Vinnie Dakota’ but as well, this version of me.”</p><p> </p><p>“And for what? To learn more about me so you could use it against me? Knowing that I could never turn down a beautiful woman?” Balthazar snapped.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie couldn’t help but blush darkly at that. Did… did she hear that right? Did he really just call her a beautiful woman? “I… you… uh…” Vinnie was unable to speak. It just seemed as if her words just died in her throat. Unable to come out, as if he was just frozen, paralyzed in some way and was unsure as to how that could work. This had never happened before and it made her all the more confused.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping, the woman calmly said “You… you think I’m beautiful? Or… is it just this form you find attractive? I mean, you did try to kiss me and all before when I was a man but-“</p><p> </p><p>“Okay yes I find both sides attractive!” Balthazar shouted with a hiss. His face exploding in a bright crimson before he looked away. “So, you haven’t… been trying to get close to me just so you could feed from me? At all?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hell no!” Vinnie shouted with wide eyes. Panic filled her heart at the mere idea of such a thing. The woman looked away before letting out a soft sigh. Crossing her arms under her breasts before saying “Don’t forget, I’ve spent over four hundred years falling in love with you and you ended up falling for me. I have done nothing but love you in each life, it didn’t matter to me what your position was. Your money, what you liked to do or where we would end up going.” The woman looked up at Balthazar, leaning in closer to the man causing the blonde to blush all the more. “I love you for you Cav! Nothing about your background was. What meant more to me, was the person that you are! In each and every life, that was what I loved about you!”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blushed darkly, seeing just how close the woman before him was now. It seemed that Vinnie was unaware was of how close the two were. Vinnie just stared at the blonde before her, staring at him with pleading eyes as she said “I don’t want to lose you, but I don’t want to push you into anything you don’t want.”</p><p> </p><p>“So, what is it that you want from me then Dakota? I don’t know what it is that you want from me.”</p><p> </p><p>“For now Cav, just your friendship, nothing else matters to me. Even if you can’t return my feelings I’ll be happy with your friendship.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re still hiding something from me aren’t you…” Balthazar said suddenly.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked her eyes in shock. How could he have known that she was hiding something from the man? It made no sense to her but, it was also a story for another day. He wasn’t ready to hear anything about the past. Not about his lives, about what had happened between Vinnie and the last four lives of Balthazar. All of that, it was something that no one could understand.</p><p> </p><p>Not so soon after learning about them having past lives in the first place and the person even having been with a demon in those lives. Taking a deep breath, Vinnie knew that this was going to be a long conversation when the time was right, but just like before it wasn’t the right time. “Story for another time Cav.” Vinnie whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>Looking into the man’s turquoise eyes, Vinnie couldn’t help but blush softly. Sure, she had seen his eyes many, many times in all of his past lives but, to her… the eyes would never change. The true windows to the soul was what the first Balthazar had told Vinnie all those years ago. Made her want to stare into his eyes forever but knew, that she could never do such a thing.</p><p> </p><p>Closing her eyes for a moment, the young woman pulled herself back from the blonde before saying “Anyway, let’s go get something to eat. I’m kinda in the mood for some oysters now thanks to my analogy.” She said with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just gave Vinnie a bland stare before saying “Yeah, no. I am not eating oysters, more so since you had used them as a means of explaining how you can switch from male to female.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just grinned all the more before leaning over Balthazar. Wanting to tease the man a little as she said “You know, this could be a chance for you to have a wonderful dinner with a… oh what did you call me? A beautiful woman?” Balthazar’s face went even redder than before, something that the woman didn’t think to be possible but it made her smile all the more.</p><p> </p><p>It seemed that her female form still had an effect on someone. The woman just grinned all the more, leaning all the more over the man, Balthazar gave a quick stare at Vinnie’s breasts before tightly shutting his eyes. “Stop it! This is just so ungentlemanly.” Hissed the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just grinned all the more before saying “Come on, let’s at least go out and get some food. I’m starving, and I could use some real food right about now.”</p><p> </p><p>“No feeding from me… right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, like I said I don’t like to feed from humans directly anymore. What happens when I do is a mistake, nothing more.”  She said with a small smile before looking over to her table and grabbed her wallet.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie knew that she had a lot to explain but at the moment? She just wanted to enjoy a simple night out with her friend. If love blossomed then it did. If not then… there was always the next life should it ever get to that.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I won't lie, Balthazar being slightly afraid of women was something that I came up with on the fly. Figured that he would have had some issues with people only wanting to get close to him because of his family's wealth. Because of that, he's afraid when it comes to getting romantically involved with women because he was always expected to marry a good woman, not look for a man to love. Figured that was the best way to explain it. Now, the next few chapters will involve Balthazar trying to overcome his fear and insecurities that will come up with the whole 'reincarnation' thing. I'm just hoping I explained it properly when it shows up in the next chapter because won't lie, kinda messed up with the plot a little so had to fix it and the explanation may be a little jumbled but bare with me, I tried lol.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Scars of the Past</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vinnie notices the scars on Balthazar's body and wants answers. Though it seemed that Balthazar doesn't seem to like what he himself hears.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a few days since Vinnie explained his abilities to Balthazar. The two of them having gone to get something to eat while Vinnie was in his ‘female’ form. It was rather strange for sure for the blonde, but it seemed that Balthazar didn’t mind. Though it was obvious that the man was a little uncomfortable. It seemed that he had a little trouble when it came to women.</p><p> </p><p>“So, tell me this Cav, why do you seem afraid of my female appearance?” asked Vinnie with a tilt of his head.</p><p> </p><p>He just hoped that Balthazar didn’t see this as a joke. As the demon actually wanted to know more about this version of the reincarnation of his lover. He wanted to learn, just like how Balthazar wanted to learn about him. Man, he still thought it was weird that they still called each other by their last names but he couldn’t really control that right now. Since Balthazar hadn’t really even bothered saying Vinnie’s first name.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, he was starting to think that maybe Balthazar forgot what his first name was.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not really used to being around most women.” Balthazar calmly answered, causing Vinnie to blink his eyes at him in confusion. “Most women saw me as a strange man. Only seeing me as a means of getting my wealth like I mentioned to you at the rink. I’ve been used, and tossed aside like rubbish.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie couldn’t help but frown a little at that. Shaking his head, the curly haired man made his way over to Balthazar and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, dragging him down a bit to his height. “Look, Cavendish I can’t say that you won’t be hurt by someone in the future but what I can say is that it’ll never be me.” He gave him a big smile before adding “Besides, you don’t seem to have a problem with Crystal.”</p><p> </p><p>“Because she reminds me of my sister in a sense. Then of course I have yet seen her trying to flirt with me or even mention money or anything of the like.” Balthazar replied with a roll of his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, they mentioned about money and you… Cav, how did you not notice that?”</p><p> </p><p>“I just… wanted them to like me was all.” Balthazar said with a soft sigh before rubbing at the back of his neck. “I was worried, my parents wanted me to find a nice woman to help carry on the name.” The blonde shrugged his shoulders as he then started to rub his arm, pushing the sleeve of his shirt up while doing so. “My sister had to alert me that they were just trying to use me as she had noticed the things I’d buy for the girls I’d try to woo.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie couldn’t help but frown a little at that. So, he was nervous around most women if he knew them in some way and believed that they would only see him as some kind of pay check? A way to get rich quick? It made Vinnie angry to be honest. He wanted to find those women who would dare to use him like that and give them a stern talking too but he wasn’t sure if that would make things any better or not.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the curly haired man was about to open his mouth to speak till he noticed something on Balthazar’s arm. Was that a scar?</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, he made his way toward the blonde and carefully grabbed a hold over Balthazar’s wrist. “What are you doing Dakota?” asked the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m checking something.” Vinnie replied before rolling the sleeve back up and frowned. “What’s this? Scars? You didn’t have those before.” Responded the curly haired man before he looked up at the blonde. He couldn’t help but stare at him in shock. This wasn’t normal, these scars looked old as if they had been there for years but there was something else off about them. Something very familiar to the demon but knew that he had to get this looked at.</p><p> </p><p>“Cav, come on we’re going to get this looked at. I’m getting Crystal and Blade to help.” Vinnie calmly said, tugging at the blonde’s arm as he dragged the blonde back to Balthazar’s trailer. Sending a quick message to his friends in the hopes of getting some kind of insight.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal had a strange power when it comes to her powers of an empath. So maybe she could give some kind of insight to what could have happened. Looking back over at Balthazar, the shorter man saw the concern in the taller man’s turquoise eyes. Eyes that he loved dearly, eyes that shouldn’t show such worry and concern but… it was something that had to be done right now. He wanted to know what was going on and he wanted to learn as to what it could have been.</p><p> </p><p>Though at the same time he just can’t stop this nagging feeling that there was something familiar about the location of the scars that lined the blonde’s arm. It made him curious, yet a sinking feeling hit Vinnie at the same time. It was as if there was something that was trying to spark the memory but he just wasn’t sure what it was.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota, it’s nothing serious. There is no reason to be worried over something such as this.” Balthazar calmly said before letting out a soft sigh. Vinnie though knew that he shouldn’t. That this was just his worry but can you blame the man? He had to deal with Balthazar dying in the past and he wasn’t going to deal with it again. He would do whatever he could to keep the man alive.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not going to let you die again Cavendish. We’re getting you looked at and Crystal is the best person to figure this out thanks to one of her abilities.” Vinnie pointed out once they walked into the blonde’s trailer.</p><p> </p><p>“What abilities?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal has healing abilities so she can tell what caused the injury without an issue.” Vinnie confirmed with a big grin on his face.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Are you sure that you aren’t going overboard with all of this?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sure that I am not going overboard Cav.” Vinnie retorted as he inspected the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, the shorter man knew that he was going a little overboard if he was honest but he couldn’t allow himself to overlook this. Knowing that this was his only chance to ensure that nothing was going to happen to Balthazar. Not after everything that had happened in the span of under five hundred years.</p><p> </p><p>So, the moment that they had managed to get Balthazar to sit down on his couch, Vinnie had forced Balthazar to remove his shirt and waist coat. The scars that lined his body was strange and just like the ones that he had seen on the blonde’s arm. Though, he just couldn’t help but frown a little at that. Only one scar looked different, but that was about it.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, the curly haired man stared at the scar as he shook his head. That scar he knew the cause from so that was one that he didn’t have to worry about.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, Crystal as well as Blade came into the trailer.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay Vinnie, what the hell do you want and…” Crystal stopped and blandly stared the two men on the couch. For, there was Balthazar sitting on the couch. Peaches the bunny snuggling the blonde and Vinnie inspecting the shirtless blonde for something. Vinnie could easily see that she looked ready to walk out or even slap him. “What the fuck are you doing? I swear if you are trying to piss me off with something again I’ll burn your ass to-“</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal, I asked you here because I need you to take a look at these scars. They’re weird okay? You’ve seen the scars when you were healing him.” Balthazar looked up in confusion on that one. Vinnie forgot that he told Balthazar that his one injury was nothing more than a dream.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you talking about?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh…” Vinnie couldn’t really speak. His voice had faded in that moment, unsure as to what he was to do. What he should say to try to get him out of trouble because of the small lie that he had told Balthazar. “Well you see, the thing is…”  Vinnie said as he rubbed the back of his head, nervous as all hell.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh my god.” Crystal mumbled before saying “Look, Cavendish you got stabbed alright? You were bleeding to death and near deaths door when Vinnie brought you here-“</p><p> </p><p>“What?!”</p><p> </p><p>“So, in order to keep you alive Vinnie had given you some of his own energy beforehand and was able to bring you here before it was too late to save you.” Crystal explained before rubbing her face though Vinnie felt the blood drain away from his face. Because Crystal had just confessed to what had happened, from the moment the blonde had been stabbed from that mugger. How Vinnie had done what he could to keep Balthazar alive before Crystal could heal him.</p><p> </p><p>“So you’re saying that it wasn’t a dream?! That I was actually stabbed!?” shouted Balthazar, who now looked over his shoulder and glared at the demon behind him. Vinnie looked away in guilt and shame. Yeah this was not how he was going to reveal the truth to the blonde or, if at all but this was something that he was going to have to deal with.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota why didn’t you tell me the truth?!” shouted Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“You would have figured out what I was! Don’t forget how you freaked out when you learned what I was.” Vinnie pointed out. Though Balthazar just glared before using his free arm to shove Vinnie backward. The demon yelped out in shock as he hit the wall behind him and whined from the pain.</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie don’t be a baby alright? You’re a damn demon.” Crystal said with a sigh before grabbing a chair and pulled it up to look Balthazar over. “Blade, make sure Vinnie isn’t seriously hurt alright?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure thing puppy.” Blade said with a chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not a damn dog!” shouted Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>“But… you’re a wolf right? Aren’t wolves in a sense puppies? Or at least related to the canine family?”</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish… I’m about to check to ensure that these are normal scars or cursed scars and you don’t want to piss me off right now or so help me I’ll kick your ass to next year.” Crystal threatened.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar nodded his head quickly at that. At least he knew not to piss Crystal off since, even Vinnie had to admit that the woman scared him when she was mad. It was something that he had learned not to deal with when they were children. Looking over at the woman, he saw Crystal looking over Balthazar, her hand to her chin as she stared at the man in deep thought.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, these aren’t normal scars for sure.” She reached out to touch one of the scars on the man’s chest only to stop. “Wait.” She said before rubbing her hands together.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“She’s warming her hands up, Crystal has problems with keeping heat in her hands so her hands freeze easily.” Blade responded.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, she’s a Fire Lycan… can control <em>fire</em> of all things and yet her hands freeze?” Balthazar said with a frown on his face as he looked over at the two demons before him while petting his bunny that was at his side.</p><p> </p><p>Blade just shrugged. “Hey, she’s only h-oof!” The Nekoline was about to say something till Crystal slammed her elbow into the man’s stomach. Causing him to fall over onto the floor and groaning. “I regret nothing.” Blade groaned a little while trying to push himself up onto his face. Vinnie chuckled at the two of them, it was obvious that Blade had a thing for Crystal yet she herself couldn’t see it, or even believe that she was feeling from the man.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe he could try to get those two together after all the crap Crystal did to him growing up.</p><p> </p><p>Not now though, his main concern was Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie could only watch as Crystal looked over at the scars on Balthazar’s skin. She looked confused as she inspected the man. It seemed that this was something that she hadn’t expected in the first place. “When did these appear?” asked Crystal as she looked up at the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>“Hm, I believe they appeared after I woke up from the stabbing.” Balthazar calmly said before crossing his arms, deep in thought. “I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing, my sister was calling me and then I noticed the scars on my body. I was… only stabbed once right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, you were.” Vinnie nodded as he spoke. Crossing his arms before stepping off of the couch and made his way to stand near Crystal. He felt like he wouldn’t be able to do much for the man. Though he just hoped that Crystal would be able to do something, or even explain what had happened for these marks to have appeared in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar glared a little at that.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie couldn’t help but wince a little at that. Okay he deserved that but he only lied to keep the man safe. But, he knew that it was both right, and wrong to have lied but now it was biting him in the ass. Breathing deeply, he looked over at Crystal as she traced her index finger along the scars. Her eyes would twitch, pupils shrinking into slits brief moments or would even expand to the point that they would overtake her entire eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Using her free hand, she rubbed at her face as she tried to keep herself steady while she was trying to ‘see’ what it was that had caused these scars to have appeared.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a gasp, the young woman pulled her hand back with a groan. “Crystal you alright?” asked Blade.</p><p> </p><p>She nodded her head before letting out a shaky breath as she looked up and stared at the three men who were now staring at her as if she held the greatest secret to the universe. Well, to Vinnie it felt like she had the answers to his universe to a degree.</p><p> </p><p>“It seems, that these aren’t normal scars. But scars of the past.” Crystal explained as she let out a groan as she rubbed at her head.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you talking about?” Vinnie said with a frown as he looked between Balthazar and his friend. Even Blade seemed confused on what she was saying. Only to get right in his friend’s face as he said “Can you stop being so cryptic and just tell me the damn answer to my questions!? Why are they even on his skin in the first place?! What do you mean by scars of the past?! He didn’t have them before and… and… uh… Crystal? Why are you staring at me like that? You’re starting to scare me.” Vinnie had started his tirade with anger, now? He was afraid.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal just gave him a bland stare before pushing herself up from her feet, grabbed her friend by his shirt before turning to Blade. “You know what to do.” Blade’s eyes widened in that moment before he rushed toward the door and opened it. For not a moment too soon, the demon had tossed the Incubus out of the door as if it was the easiest thing in the world.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie knew he messed up when Crystal had tossed him out of the trailer. He had flown a half dozen feet or so, give or take a few more feet. Honestly, Vinnie had no idea how far he had gone flying for but knew that he fell in the dumpster that was far across from the trailers. Letting out a groan, the curly haired man pushed himself out from the, thankfully cleaned out dumpster before he started to make his way toward the trailer.</p><p> </p><p>Once he walked inside, he glared at the woman as he asked “Did you have to throw me out the door? Couldn’t you have slapped me instead or something?”</p><p> </p><p>“You wouldn’t learn a lesson if I did.” Was Crystal’s reply.</p><p> </p><p>The Incubus just sighed softly before taking a seat next to the blonde haired man who was just staring at the two with wide eyes. It seemed that he hadn’t expected such a scene to have unfolded in the first place. Not that he could blame Balthazar for it, since Crystal doesn’t display her true strength often, only when she’s very mad such as she was mere moments ago.</p><p> </p><p>Blade just sighed as he rubbed his forehead and closed the door so no one else would see or hear what they were going to discuss.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, may I explain what I was seeing before with the scars?” asked Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>The three men nodded their heads.</p><p> </p><p>“Good.” Crystal cleared her throat as she leaned forward and stared at Balthazar. Grabbing a hold of his arm and pulled it out. “Vinnie, don’t you think these scars look familiar to you? At all?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I thought they looked familiar but what does-“</p><p> </p><p>“These are the scars from Katherina’s death.” Crystal said, then gestured to the other thin scars that lined Balthazar’s torso.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie felt his heart freeze within his chest. Instead of blood pumping through his veins, it was ice flowing through his entire body. That can’t be possible, Katherina… she died… and the scars… His eyes widened as he slowly turned to Balthazar, seeing that the man was just as confused as the blonde. Unsure as to what was going on right now.</p><p> </p><p>“Then this one here, this is from another death.” Crystal pointed to a scar that looked like a bullet wound. Much like the one that Vinnie had on his own chest. The feeling was only growing stronger and stronger.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh and don’t forget this scar as well.” Crystal pointed to a long scar that ran downward on the side of Balthazar’s chest. It was as if the man had been impaled by something long and thick. Something powerful enough that it could have stabbed the blonde but, it just made Vinnie feel his body starting to tremble.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, Vinnie had no idea what was going on. How this was even possible, how it could have even happened in the first place. This never happened with the past lives before so why now? Why are they appearing now of all times? It just didn’t make sense to him and it made him want to know more about this.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal leaned back in her seat as she crossed her arms across her chest in deep thought. “I have no idea what this is. It’s so strange that this was even a possibility in the first place. It just makes no sense!”</p><p> </p><p>“You actually have no idea?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Must you both talk about me like I am not even here?” asked Balthazar, finally speaking up for the first time in a while now. Vinnie couldn’t help but want to learn about this himself. It just made him want to know more about these scars, and he was sure that Balthazar also wanted to know about this as well.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry Cavendish.” Crystal calmly responded.</p><p> </p><p>“I have a possible idea as to what happened.” Blade calmly said.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal, Vinnie, and Balthazar looked over at Blade who had a thoughtful smile on his face. “You have an actual idea?” Vinnie asked in shock. It wasn’t that Blade didn’t have much ideas, it was that he normally kept them to himself and would prefer to follow them (mostly Crystal) blindly but also to make sure that no one did anything stupid and outrageous.</p><p> </p><p>Though it was still rather odd to hear him say that he had an idea. Even a small idea to a big one. The Incubus blinked his eyes in confusion before asking “Well, you gonna share?”</p><p> </p><p>“Right.” Blade replied with a chuckle before rubbing the back of his neck. “Anyway, my idea is that while the scars are of past lives. But it makes me think if there was something more.” Blade responded before he crossed his arms as he looked out the window. “So, Balthazar answer me this. Have you been experiencing anything odd?”</p><p> </p><p>“Dreams and odd visions. Such as when Dakota handed me back my watch, I held his chain or just after meeting him.” Balthazar calmly said. It made Vinnie sad to know that he was having these visions just from those two items. In a way, he could understand why that was due to what the items meant to either Vinnie or the Balthazar’s of the past. But still, to have memories of a past life? That was almost unheard of.</p><p> </p><p>Blade hummed softly to himself. A hand resting on his chin as he was trying to think on what he was to say next. Crystal gave a small snarl as if telling him to hurry up and tell them already what was going on in his head right now. “Sorry, what I’m thinking is what if the feelings from the first life, was strong enough that it could be felt in the next life?”</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Now Vinnie as well as Crystal were both confused. What did that have to do with the scars or even the dreams? Blade chuckled a little as he calmly started to explain. “Well, we all know that when someone is in love that they feel a connection right?” Everyone nodded. “Well, what if the feelings were deeper than that? But from the soul itself, so ingrained into the soul that the feelings could be felt in the next life? As well as some memories or at least feelings?”</p><p> </p><p>The blonde hummed softly as he looked down at his lap. Hand to his chin as he himself seemed to be in deep thought. Thinking something that was within his mind, but was unsure as to what it could have been. As the only one that would be aware of the dreams themselves would be Balthazar and maybe Crystal. Assuming the former had shared everything with the latter.</p><p> </p><p>“I do recall how the one life felt before he died. The man loved his lover to the point that he would know who he was no matter what.” Balthazar calmly said before letting out a hum of deep thought. “I believe… that he wanted to be with his lover in every life. No matter what would happen, he would love his lover in each and every life.” Vinnie blushed a little at that. So, even in the first life that was of the cycle of reincarnation, Balthazar’s first life loved him that much.</p><p> </p><p>Blade just nodded as he went on with his explanation. “I think, that maybe those feelings were transferred to the next life.” Turning to Vinnie, he asked “Have any of the past lives ever mentioned dreams? Memories? Anything?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just merely shrugged his shoulders. “Not really.” Was all he could really say. Which was true, none of them had ever really mentioned about memories or even feelings but, he could recall how they would act sometimes. Acting as if they would have senses of déjà vu or something like that though, at the same time he couldn’t be sure. He even mentioned that to Blade before leaning back against the wall as he let out a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>It was all something that he just couldn’t really explain himself. It just seemed as if this was some kind of strange fantasy or something along those lines. Though he just wanted an answer to all of this, this was starting to make his head hurt.</p><p> </p><p>Blade clicked his tongue before adding in. “I think maybe the dreams are also triggered by some kind of trigger to be honest. Though I can’t really say what that trigger was. But I think I have an idea as to what it could have been.” The Nekoline looked between Balthazar and Vinnie for a moment before asking “Hey, Vincent didn’t you once give energy to the last life? Katherina?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie felt the blonde’s eyes on him in that moment. He knew that this was going to bring on more answers to some questions for Balthazar. He knew that better than anyone but he also couldn’t just hide the truth. They were so close to an answer that the demon could sense it.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, he nodded before saying “It didn’t work though. Katherina was too far gone, she was just hanging on by a thread so no amount of energy would have bought enough time to get her to a healer or even a doctor.” His voice broke a little. Her death was the shortest wait so to speak. Between each life there had been at least a hundred years. Before Balthazar came into his life it had been maybe fifty or sixty years. For that it was still fresh for him. Yet it still didn’t answer anything for him.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay I think I have a clear idea. From the first life he had a strong desire to be with you most likely.” Okay? That may have made some sense to Vinnie though he still felt like there was much more to this than he thought or wanted to believe. “With each life those feelings would just grow in strength, and the strongest memories of the past lives would come to play for the next life and so on.”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh…?” Everyone said in confusion.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, as for the energy sharing Balthazar was hanging on pretty well so he survived but due to the energy you had given Katherina in her life before she died it was sent to the next life which reacted pretty well to you. Allowing Balthazar to get a ‘jolt’ which allowed him to in a sense know who you were right away. At least feel like he knew you right away.”</p><p> </p><p>Right, Balthazar had felt like he had seen Vinnie before but, the Incubus knew for a fact that it’s never happened again. Sure, from lives one to four, they would slowly come to feel like they had known the curly haired man for many years rather than the actual time they had. Balthazar had right away felt like he had known Vinnie from the get go. Which had surprised the man for sure.</p><p> </p><p>But to hear that this was what had been going on? Or at least what <em>could </em>have been going on? He had no idea that it was possible.</p><p> </p><p>“Now when you gave Balthazar energy it must have reacted with the energy within his soul to the point that the scars of the past lives appeared but seems only the scars that had caused their deaths.” Vinnie shuddered at the thought. “As for what it would mean for Balthazar, I have no idea. Only that he just seemed to know who you were, his body reacted to yours in some way and then the scars appeared when he got your energy.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie could only stare in shock. He had no idea what he should say at this point. Unsure if he had a right to say anything. Yet, before any words were to be spoken, Balthazar pushed himself up onto his feet. Grabbed his shirt and waist coat before slipping them on and walked out of his trailer. Leaving three very confused demons behind.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yeah, Balthazar didn't like what he heard. Can you guess the reason?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Memories</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vinnie goes into how he met and loss the past lives of Balthazar.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar couldn’t believe that this was even happening. He knew that he had grown feelings for Vinnie after a while of spending time with the man. But to hear that he had been reborn a few times and each time he had been in love with Vinnie? It almost felt like it was a mixture of a blessing and a curse as he was happy that he had loved Vinnie in past lives but to know that it was just meant to happen?</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t know what to feel about such a thing and that was where he was confused.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, the blonde felt torn, half wanted to keep showing his love for the man but the other didn’t want to because he felt like it wasn’t his choice anymore. That this was all just meant to happen, that no matter what he was just meant to be in love with Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish! Wait up!” shouted Vinnie, causing the blonde to look over his shoulder for a moment before he started to walk on further ahead. “Wait! Please, let me explain!” shouted the Incubus as he kept trying to catch up with the blonde man who was trying to get as far away as possible. Yet, it seemed that it wasn’t meant to be as the demon caught up to him. “Please, let me explain something-“</p><p> </p><p>“Explain what?!” Balthazar hissed before whipping himself around and glared at the shorter man. “That us meeting was predetermined? Destiny? Fate? Some form of a self-proclaimed prophecy?!” Balthazar shouted, he was angry, angry at the world, angry at Vinnie, and angry with himself. Narrowing his turquoise eyes as he added “What about my feelings Dakota?!”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes at him in confusion. As if he was not understanding what it was that the man was trying to say in the first place. That only seemed to upset the man all the more and he wanted to shout, wanted to yell, just wanted to do something that would give Vinnie some kind of view point in what it was that the man was feeling about this.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his eyes, the blonde took a deep breath in the hopes of trying to get his point across. “If I’ve been reborn four times before, and each one of those lives had loved you then what about my own feelings?” Vinnie frowned. “What if my feelings toward you, no matter what they be, that they aren’t mine? That the feelings belong to the lives of the men and the woman you knew of the past?”</p><p> </p><p>It seemed that the curly haired man was now understanding what it was that Balthazar was trying to say. Frowning, he crossed his arms with his one hand resting on his chin. “I guess that makes sense.” He let out a soft sigh as he said “But, I can’t tell you if they are yours or not Cavendish. I don’t know the answer to that. Just know though, that in the past they didn’t ‘fall in love’ with me at the get go either.” He looked up at the blonde and saw that Balthazar was confused. “It did take time, but we both felt a connection.”</p><p> </p><p>“Connection?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, hell even with you I felt something but not as strongly as you since I tried not to start a romantic relationship with you due to what happened in the past-“</p><p> </p><p>“Which, I want to know.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie flinched a little at that. Okay, Balthazar knew that his past lives had died in some way, most likely related to those dreams thanks to what Crystal had confirmed about the scars. Then of course what Blade had said about how the scars appeared. He wanted to know more, wanted to learn about the cause of all of these deaths and the like. He just wanted to know what was going on and what he could do.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, the curly haired man flinched a little. His eyes tightly shut as he tried to think of a means to get himself out of that one. It seemed that he really didn’t want to share those stories but, well Balthazar wanted to know what was going on. What had happened in those dreams, if they all had happened much like how Crystal had claimed with the scars.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a deep breath, Vinnie whispered “Okay.” Balthazar stared with wide eyes. He didn’t think that the man would even agree to this in the first place. It just seemed odd, he almost thought that he was dreaming in some way but before the blonde could even respond, Vinnie held up his hand. “But, not right now.” The blonde frowned a little at that and was about to ask but Vinnie shook his head. “I just need a few days to collect myself alright? All of those tales are heavy on the emotional turmoil for me so I just need a few days. I’ll come to you so you can pet Peaches.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little in confusion at that. But, at the same time he knew that he would have to at least give Vinnie the courtesy of a few days to collect himself. It had to be hard for him, to share tales of the past with how he was acting they had to be hard.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the blonde nodded his head as he said “Alright, but don’t take too long. My family wants me to use some of the time off I have collected thus far to go on a family trip-“</p><p> </p><p><em>”No! Don’t go on the trip! Please!”</em> shouted Vinnie as he quickly grabbed a hold of Balthazar’s forearms. His eyes wide and filled with fear as he stared at the taller man. <em>”Don’t go! Please! I am begging you here man! Just don’t go on any trips!”</em> shouted Vinnie, his body trembling, he almost looked like he was about to fall apart in that moment. He had never seen this before and it had Balthazar worried for Vinnie in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay? I won’t go on a family trip?” He wasn’t sure if that would help the man, but he hoped that maybe it would help him with something at the very least. Besides, he didn’t know if his mission was even considered ‘complete’ or not due to everything. He had his answers about the creature, but was it even right to report Vinnie for such a thing?</p><p> </p><p>Slowly, Vinnie’s trembling started to slow down till it stopped. Then he carefully removed his hands from the man’s arms before taking a step back. Breathing deeply, yet shakily the demon whispered “I… I’ll see you in a few days. Later Cav.” With that, Vinnie walked away and left a very confused Balthazar behind. The man had no idea what had happened, but he hoped that he would discover what was to be.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Balthazar sat around in his trailer. Just petting his bunny as he waited for Vinnie to show up. Honestly, he had no idea when the man would even show up or if he would show up. It had been a few days yes, and it was already after dinner time. So where was Vinnie? Had he forgotten or had he just chickened out of revealing anything that would have anything to do with his past lives?</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t know, and honestly he felt a little disappointed. Maybe Vinnie didn’t want to help Balthazar sort out his feelings? To figure out if these feelings were his alone or the feelings of his past lives surfacing due to being in close proximity to each other. But, maybe this was what was meant to happen? They meet, something tears them apart by some odd means? There had to be a reason why Vinnie wasn’t in any of the visions? Or, maybe he was in the two visions?</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, Balthazar was at a loss for this.</p><p> </p><p>Before he could even say or even speak of anything, the door of his trailer opened, causing Balthazar to jump a little. “Sorry I’m late! I was thinking on everything that had happened in the last four hundred and fifty years or so!” Vinnie declared as he slammed the door shut behind him, locking it so no one would dare come in on them during their conversation.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, the man didn’t face Balthazar at all. In fact, he just stayed by the door, as if thinking of a means of escaping the trailer so he wouldn’t have to confess to anything of his own past. Even the man’s shoulder’s slumped, as if the weight of his own memories were weighing him down more than anything else in the world ever could. Balthazar was starting to feel bad for bringing this onto him.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota? Are you… alright?” He asked, wincing at his own concern for the man. Knowing that it seemed pointless to ask him when it was obvious that Vinnie was anything but ‘alright’ about anything right now.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine…” He whispered softly. Taking a deep breath as his shoulders rose, only to fall once again as he turned around. Slowly facing Balthazar, Vinnie just stared at the blonde for a moment before walking away from the door and went to grab a chair. Taking a seat, the curly haired man looked up at the man before him as he asked “So, what do you want to know first?”</p><p> </p><p>Honestly? Balthazar wanted to know everything but he had a feeling this would have to do with the order of learning. Frowning in deep thought, the young man tried to think on what they could talk about. Or at the very least on where to start. Then an idea had struck him. “How about, with how you met the first Balthazar?” asked the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie nodded his head slowly. Taking a deep breath, Vinnie began his tale. “You see, I met the first life by chance. Fate? Destiny? I dunno.” Vinnie whispered before looking down at the floor, unable to face Balthazar. It broke the blonde’s heart seeing this. “I decided to leave my realm one day, was getting kind of hungry so thought ‘hey, I could use a good meal right now, it’s been a while. Hoping to find a virgin, they taste so much better!’”</p><p> </p><p>“I beg your pardon?” asked Balthazar with a raised brow.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie gave a weak humorless chuckle before rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, virgin lust or energy has the best taste. It’s rare to find that nowadays since pretty much everyone is fucking now.” He chuckled a little more, though it had a little more of his humor in it this time around. Though it wasn’t the real Vinnie laughing this time around. It still sounded empty compared to the real Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>He took a deep breath before looking back down at the floor. Still unable to look at the blonde before him. “I was looking around for a target, just like any other Incubus. Just trying to find a human to feed from and then go back home.” Vinnie whispered softly. “Then, that was when I saw the first Balthazar. He was walking and hadn’t noticed the carriage heading toward him in that moment.” Balthazar blinked in confusion at that. Was he really saying what he believed he was saying?</p><p> </p><p>“Couldn’t see the guy get run over ya know? So I rushed over to him and tackled him out of the way. Once we both noticed we were on the ground, I helped him up onto his feet and we dusted ourselves off.” Balthazar blinked. So he saved his first life from being run over? Without even knowing who he was in the first place, was Vinnie always like that? Willing to save someone even if he didn’t know them or was it because he wanted some kind of a meal?</p><p> </p><p>“He thanked me, and I was about to tell him it was no problem then… our eyes met.” Balthazar frowned as he saw a few drops of tears falling onto the ground. “You see, with Incubi, we fall in love when our eyes meet. Normally though it’s with others of our kind or other demons.” Slowly, he lifted his gaze to stare at the blonde before him before giving a sad smile. “Yet, I ended up falling in love with a human. He wanted to thank me properly so we had some dinner…”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar almost thought that Vinnie would have tried something with his first life yet… “Did you ever feed from him?” asked the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>“No, couldn’t bring myself to do it. It just felt wrong to try to feed from someone I had fallen in love with. Then of course I didn’t really feed from people much anymore anyway after I started to get along with him.” The demon chuckled a little before rubbing at his face. “I even gave him that pocket watch that you have right now. I wanted to give him a gift to show my love for him ya know? He loved it and I believed that it was the perfect gift.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then what happened?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe a few years after giving him the watch… we were just walking. Enjoying each other’s company and then… we were attacked. A man came out, and shot at me.” Vinnie whispered softly before reaching up and placed a hand on his chest. Right where the scar was on the demon’s chest. Balthazar couldn’t help but stare in shock that was like the dream that he had when he fell asleep on the bus. “After Balthazar was shot, I rushed to him, we were both alone.” Vinnie said before rubbing at his face once again. “I held him, begging, pleading for him to stay alive, to stay with me but… he ended up leaving me. The bullet had torn at his lung, and he was choking on his own blood.”</p><p> </p><p>Tears started to drip down his face as they landed on his pant legs. Balthazar wanted to reach out and hold Vinnie but knew that he couldn’t do so. Not yet, he had to hear more still… wanted to hear more about this man’s past.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota…”</p><p> </p><p>“I held him Cav, watched as the light faded from his eyes.” Vinnie sobbed out. Taking a deep shuddering breath, he gave a dark laugh. “But it doesn’t end there. I… I won’t lie, I’m not really proud of it but I hunted that guy down like a dog.” He had a cruel smile on his face in that moment, it was twisted but more in a painful way, not in the sinister means. But, Balthazar could easily see the pain still remaining in his heart at the memory of losing the first Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie kept his smile, eyes now aglow in his rage and anger at the memory but he could see the trembling of the man’s lips. As if he was trying to keep his composure, though that seemed easier said than done. “I found him… I demanded to know why he did what he did but I got no responds. He just stared at me with a smile plastered on his damn face.” He snarled at the reminder. “I beat him… and beat him till he was dead.”</p><p> </p><p>Covering his face, the demon shuddered a little as he tried to collect himself from the memory itself. “No matter how much it rained, how it washed away the blood from the scene itself and my skin, or how I screamed till my voice was horse from overuse… it wouldn’t wash away the memory of you dying in my arms.”</p><p> </p><p>Now he was starting to regret having Vinnie explain anything of the story to him. Though his desire to learn more about his past lives made him want to keep pushing forward. Before the blonde could even respond, Vinnie kept going with his tale with the second Balthazar Cavendish.</p><p> </p><p>“When it came to meeting the second life well, that was kind of interesting.” Vinnie stated with small smile. His eyes no longer glowing, he seemed to have calmed down but Balthazar felt like he was trying to put up a front right now. Which made him all the more worried for the demon ahead of him. All Balthazar could do was tilt his head to the side in concern for the demon, hoping and praying that he would be okay.</p><p> </p><p>The demon had a smile on his face as he chuckled a little. This memory most likely a little more light hearted for the man. That had to be a good thing right? “I was wandering around. Just trying to relax and think of a means of trying to feed without doing any kind of physical contact.” Vinnie just shrugged a little before looking over at Balthazar and had a small smile on his face. “Well, someone came to me and claimed that I had seduced his fiancé or something.” He just laughed a little before placing a hand on his forehead. “Didn’t know who he was, or even who his fiancé was, but before I could even speak he picked me up and threw me into the bakery nearby.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked in shock at that one. He was sure that was what one of the dreams had mentioned with a meeting.  That was strange but, now he was starting to believe that those were indeed memories, not just dreams. Tilting his head a little, he was about to ask for more of the story but it seemed that Vinnie had known to keep going without the blonde needing to say anything.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a deep breath, Vinnie chuckled as he went on with his tale. “He was shocked and surprise about seeing a man being thrown through a window with little injury.” Laughing, tears streaming down his cheeks, Balthazar wanted to reach out to wipe away the man’s tears but Vinnie ended up beating him to that.</p><p> </p><p>“To be honest, he was fun to be around as well. We would go out, have tea… well he’d have tea and I’d have water or some kind of booze. We’d even have some kind of dessert and just enjoy each other’s company.” Vinnie had a soft smile on his face as he sighed in bliss at the memories of his time with any and all the Balthazar’s even though he had only spoken about two of them thus far. Yet, it was enough to make the blonde feel something toward the man but, once again unsure if these were his feelings, or the feelings of past lives.</p><p> </p><p>But, this was what he was trying to figure out. To learn if these were his or the feelings of a past life… lives?</p><p> </p><p>“But then… one day he told me that he was going on a trip. His family wanted to go to their cottage in the mountains. He promised me that he’d come back and hummed the song that I had written for him before he left.” Vinnie explained before sighing softly. Shaking his head as he looked over at Balthazar for a brief moment. His eyes once again filled with pain before he looked down. “I didn’t know what happened till maybe a week after he left. I heard that he was skating and fell through the ice. Drowning in the process, his family couldn’t do anything but to retrieve the pocket watch that he had been given. It was the same one that his first life had. Seemed that the watch had been turned into some kind of family heirloom.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked at that one. That made sense, though it was then seen as a curse wasn’t it? After all, everyone who was ‘given’ the watch was soon killed and the watch would lay around till the next person would come around that would want the watch.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m so sorry Dakota.”</p><p> </p><p>“I wanted to get some kind of revenge Cav, I did but can’t get revenge on ice right?” He chuckled painfully before sighing.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but stare at him in shock. He was going through so much just to endure telling the tales. That was obvious for sure, and Balthazar was tempted now to get Vinnie to stop. Before he could even voice his worries for the man, Vinnie just went on with the other tale.</p><p> </p><p>“With the third life though… by then I had given up on trying to find you. Thinking that maybe it was pointless to try to love the next life. Because losing you twice by then? After you came back after a hundred years from the first time I met the first life?” Vinnie let out a soft sigh before running a hand through his hair. Feeling his heart want to reach out for Vinnie but unsure if he could. Vinnie was struggling still with the tale, his heart was all but bleeding at this point.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie let out a soft sigh as he leaned back in his seat. His head tilted back as he gazed up at the ceiling. His pain was clear. Balthazar wanted to call out for Vinnie to stop but the words in his throat in that moment. “I stayed hidden away in an alleyway. Trying to find a means to feed without causing a scene.” He admitted before sighing softly. “Well, when I looked up, there was your next incarnation. Your third life that had seen me and made his way over toward me.”</p><p> </p><p>“He did?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, he saw me just sitting there. Dressed in ripped and torn clothes and dirty… I was in that alleyway for a while so I was in a need of a bath.” Vinnie said with a small laugh only for his smile to turn somber. “He thought I was homeless, though in the realm of humans, I was. Though he ended up being mugged but, like once before I saved him from getting killed.” He laughed a little before letting out a sigh. Vinnie was calm for the most part, though Balthazar could tell that the man was trying to keep himself from panicking, from just downright crying in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>Reliving all of these, they were painful but at the same time now that he thought about it… it may help Vinnie down the road to finally let all of this out. To allow himself to heal in this moment. Though he just hoped that it wouldn’t be too much for him.</p><p> </p><p>“We spent time together. I tried not to allow myself to get so attached but, I ended up getting attached much like before. I was in love once again. I didn’t know what to do but… to make the best of it. It was actually that life that gave me the gold chain that I wear.” Vinnie said with a sad sigh, grabbing a hold of the chain for a brief moment, only to drop it before going on with his tale. “Well, after a while he and his family went on their yearly trip but it was to the mountains.” Balthazar blinked a little in confusion at that. Okay, so big deal they went on a trip. His family does it once a year as well.</p><p> </p><p>“But, during the trip up the mountain… there was an accident.” Vinnie whispered before leaning forward. His hands dangling between his knees as he sighed. He was doing that a lot during his tale though, Balthazar knew that this was just painful for him. “He fell, and was impaled on a tree. They pulled him away I don’t know how long afterwards but it was distressing to know they hadn’t noticed him missing for hours.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned a little at that. There was something wrong about that, but he couldn’t place what it could have been. It just seemed as if the memory for Vinnie was wrong, was off by some means and he just couldn’t be sure what it was. “When I found out about his death, I left and returned to my home in the hopes of just trying to regain my senses I guess.”</p><p> </p><p>“What happened afterwards?” asked Balthazar, almost afraid of the answer.</p><p> </p><p>“Not much, I just sat around and did nothing but hum to songs that I’ve written for you or that we have performed together.” Vinnie let out a sad laugh before it died in his throat.</p><p> </p><p>“Then… there was your last life. Katherina…”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but stare at him in that moment. The moment of his great aunt’s time with Vinnie. Though he wondered if this was a memory that he wanted in that moment. To know his aunts moments of happiness and before she died. Gulping, Balthazar whispered “Are you sure that you… you want too?”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t, but you wanted to know.” Vinnie whispered softly before letting out a soft sigh once again. How many more times was he going to keep sighing like that? He had no idea, but hoped and prayed that this memory was at least a good one for Vinnie. For his sake right?</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft hum, the curly haired man looked out the window. Why did it seem like he was in a great amount of pain more now than ever? Maybe this was a bad idea after all.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing softly, Vinnie begun the tale of Balthazar’s fourth life.</p><p> </p><p>“I met Katherina in the park. She told me that she had been in the middle of a fight with her younger sister.” So, even his grandmother would fight with her sibling. Though to hear anything about the woman as a child was rather surprising though he knew that this tale didn’t involve his grandmother at all. “She decided to do what she always did in the park, sing and perform to her hearts content.” Vinnie chuckled a little before rubbing the back of his neck. “Though to be honest, I didn’t know that she was a reincarnation till I got a good look at her eyes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Really?” Balthazar raised a brow at that one. He knew the others were of the same soul but her? That made no sense to him, it made the blonde want to reach out and knock some kind of sense into the demon. Yet, he had no idea if it would even be possible in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, Vinnie calmly said “Yeah, she had strawberry blonde hair and well, was a woman.” He rubbed the back of his head feeling embarrassed about the whole thing but let out a small laugh. “Anyway, we started talking and well… she wanted an opinion on her dancing routine. I knew that I was doomed the moment I realized who she was.” Vinnie lowered his gaze before letting out a whimper.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?”</p><p> </p><p>“We barely spent two years together before I lost her. I don’t know everything that happened, only that she was out somewhere.” Vinnie ran his hand down his face in deep thought, or exhaustion. “I don’t remember where it was but when she hadn’t returned I went out looking for her. I found her maybe after thirty minutes? She was cut up, stabbed, and was… was…” Balthazar didn’t need to hear what the man was trying to say. He knew what it was that Vinnie was trying to speak of. “I held her, she was just so far gone, even though I tried to give her some of my energy in the hopes of saving her or at least buying her more time.” Balthazar frowned a little at that. It made him sad to hear such a tale, and knew that it had to have hurt Vinnie in more ways than one. “But, didn’t matter… there was no saving her. I could only hold her while she died in my arms.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar wanted to speak, but Vinnie beat him to it. Vinnie whispered “I found them though. I found the bastards that did that to poor Katherina. It took me maybe a few hours at best, I lost track of time honestly. I made them suffer slowly, though they just grinned at me like it was some kind of sick game for them. That they enjoyed what happened to Katherina, and enjoying what I was doing.” Vinnie covered his face with his hands, unable to look at Balthazar in the eye.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m so sorry.” Balthazar said with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not your fault Cavendish. It’s just some kind of weird fate that wanted me to be sad for the rest of my life.” Vinnie said with a shrug before looking up at him with a small smile. “What can I do, I would still love you even if you were in some other form or you were some kind of villain.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little. He almost felt tears building up in his eyes as he stared at Vinnie. Hearing all the tales of his past lives, or at the very least hearing about how Vinnie met each one, and how he lost them. How it had to be painful for the man, though there was still just so much that he wanted to learn. Wanted to understand.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure that none of them know about you being an Incubus?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I was afraid of them fearing me and running off.” Vinnie calmly answered.</p><p> </p><p>So, none of them ever knew about what Vinnie was? Frowning a little, the young man just couldn’t help but feel a little confused about all of this. Was that a good thing? Bad thing? He wasn’t sure, but knew that this had to mean something at the very least. Closing his eyes, the young man whispered “How do I know that you aren’t seducing me right now?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes at him in confusion before chuckling and placed a hand on his face laughing. Balthazar wasn’t finding this amusing, he was feeling like he was being laughed at it. Narrowing his eyes, the blonde said “Are you mocking me?!”</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, Vinnie dragged his hand down his face as he said “No, but you should know this by now Cav. The seducing only works when I have eye to eye contact with someone. Which has yet to… why are you staring at me like that?” Vinnie frowned a little at that.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes in shocked awe as he starred at the demon in front of him. To be honest, he lost track of what they were talking about, only staring at the pools that looked back at him. Amber and blue, both so expressive and filled with so many emotions that it almost looked like a whirlpool of the feelings that he kept buried deep within but would only surface when it became overwhelming for him.</p><p> </p><p>“Such amazing eyes.” Balthazar whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh no.” Vinnie whispered in shock before fixing his glasses upon his face. Quickly he grabbed a hold of Balthazar’s hand and dragged him out of the trailer. Leaving behind the poor bunny who just wriggled her nose in confusion. Balthazar wanted to object to everything, knowing that there was nothing wrong with anything but wanted to object to Vinnie dragging him. Yet, he couldn’t as he felt the warm tingling going up his arm once again.</p><p> </p><p>“The… tingling again. Why does it happen when we come in contact?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s an Incubi thing. When an Incubi finds someone they have ‘chosen’ both will feel a tingling of warmth flowing through their body when touched. Though there is a drawback, if someone else shows interest it…” Vinnie shook his head before saying “Look I don’t have time to explain everything! I need to make sure that you can be uncharmed by it.”</p><p> </p><p>He was curious as to what Vinnie was going to say, but felt confused as to why he thought that Balthazar was charmed. The blonde didn’t feel any different. Sure, he was awed by the colour of Vinnie’s eyes, finally both being exposed at long last but otherwise he felt nothing.</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal!” shouted Vinnie as he slammed his fist on her door.</p><p> </p><p>“Why are we at Crystal’s this late?”</p><p> </p><p>“Late?” Vinnie said with a frown on his face before he looked up at the sky. It was dark, the moon was high in the sky and almost looked like it was glowing brightly.</p><p> </p><p>Before he could speak, the door slammed open causing Vinnie to jump a little. As did Balthazar, both men stared at the exhausted expression of Crystal. She was mad, for sure and looked exhausted it seemed. “What do you want Vinnie? It better be a damn good reason or so help me I’ll make sure you can’t have children even with your ability.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie gulped a little before he let go of Balthazar’s hand. “Look, Cav saw my eyes and I’m worried. What if he’s been charmed-“</p><p> </p><p>“He hasn’t.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>“Empath remember?” Crystal snarled before rolling her eyes before crossing her arms. She was looking anything but impressed. Turning her gaze over to Balthazar for a moment, she saw that the man looked confused about what was going on. Snarling a little, she turned her gaze back to Vinnie as she said “Vinnie, has it ever occurred to you that maybe Cavendish has gained an immunity to your charm much like Blade and I have?”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Balthazar said with a frown.</p><p> </p><p>“He hasn’t been exposed to me as long as you both have.” Vinnie responded.</p><p> </p><p>“True, but his soul has. All five lives have been exposed to your charm for who knows how long really at this point. Due to his soul somehow gaining an immunity to your essence itself he isn’t able to be effected by your charm. Now… this is for waking me up.” Crystal held out her hand, causing Balthazar to blink in confusion. Vinnie though just cursed under his breath before the young woman shot out a spiral of flames.</p><p> </p><p>The Incubus went flying through the air before he smacked into a brick wall.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m okay!” shouted Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“You are harsh.”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t wake me up and I won’t be.” She snarled before slamming the door shut before Balthazar. The blonde though, just felt like he was even more confused than ever before.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>won't lie, meant to have this up a little earlier but passed out from not sleeping well last night (dog sitting for my brother and it's warm in his place till I messed with AC to make it colder) now, I won't lie I think I made Vinnie have some form of PTSD or something or at least a form of it since he doesn't get triggered easily. Now, as for how he can scar, that will be explained in the next chapter and yeah, the first scene from the first chapter? That was Vinnie after he killed the gunsman that killed the first Balthazar. I'm trying to make sure I tie up any loose ends in the chapter I finished (24) and so far I think I got a good amount of them wrapped up.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Indoor Pool and Plans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar goes to the pool with everyone, and is trying to sort out his feelings. Then he gets some advice, as some information on how Vinnie got in the shape that he is in, in the first place.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar stared at his phone. It had been a few days since Vinnie had explained everything that had happened during the blonde’s last four lives. He wasn’t sure what had happened, what Vinnie had gone through just because his past lives were killed far too soon. Though the one thing that had bothered Balthazar was that Vinnie openly admitted to killing someone.</p><p> </p><p>Not due to feeding but just actual murder.</p><p> </p><p>Biting his lower lip, the young man felt the tears building up in his eyes. Honestly, he just didn’t know what to do. There was something wrong about all of this but at the same time a part of him couldn’t really fault Vinnie for it. Part of him knew that what Vinnie did was wrong but the other part of him knew that Vinnie was grieving and wanted some kind of justice.</p><p> </p><p>It made him think back to when they had went to get some books at the book store. Vinnie had mentioned how he didn’t like murder mysteries because normally there was no justice for anyone. That there was never justice for someone who was the victim.</p><p> </p><p>Was it that even though Vinnie had avenged the two lives from Balthazar’s soul that it just didn’t feel like there had been any kind of justice for him either way.</p><p> </p><p>He must have felt like it was an empty victory for the demon and Balthazar felt like… well he didn’t know what he felt at this moment. It just seemed as if his emotions were in some kind of turmoil. Feeling as if he was in a twister of his emotions. Unsure as to what he was to feeling right now. He wanted to fully understand, but with how he was raised to hate and despise demons? That made it harder for him to fight his want to understand Vinnie more.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, he hit the ‘play’ button on his phone. Listening to the song he had heard Vinnie playing after Balthazar’s stabbing incident. The young man couldn’t help but listen to the sound of the music, the sound of Vinnie’s voice as he played. Having played his own music in his childhood and he could at least listen to the emotions that were being played in the song.</p><p> </p><p>He could hear how sad the music was. The tone of Vinnie’s voice as he sang this song. It was his heart that was singing this song, a song that was filled with so much pain and torment that he hadn’t thought it was possible to feel so much pain.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde couldn’t help but frown a little at that. A monster wouldn’t feel so much pain and torment right? They would have just felt as if nothing had changed. In Vinnie’s case though, he would have felt like he just lost his meal ticket since he fed off of the energy from humans but, then again the man hadn’t ever fed from any of Balthazar’s past lives.</p><p> </p><p>They didn’t even know about Vinnie being an Incubus so that had to mean something doesn’t it?</p><p> </p><p>Sighing softly, the song had ended yet Balthazar couldn’t help but play it again.</p><p> </p><p>It was a beautiful song, yet he felt like it was a song that was created by someone who wasn’t Vinnie. Covering his face, the young man took a deep breath feeling like his mind was spinning.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”I wrote a song for you.” Said a female voice.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“What kind of song is it?” asked a male voice, most likely Vinnie.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Well, you’ve been kind of sad lately… I don’t know what it is, but I feel like it reflects you perfectly.” Answered the female voice.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Alright, let’s hear it then Katherina.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Aunt Katherina… she was the one that created the song.” Balthazar whispered softly, wondering if his sister would find anything like that. Though he had a feeling that his great aunt never left anything in records for anyone else to have that song but Vinnie. Letting out a soft sigh, the young man shut the song off before he set his phone in his pocket. He wanted to do something. Wanted to go out and about, thinking maybe some kind of outing would bring him some kind of peace of mind with Vinnie but how was he to do that?</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, the young man wasn’t sure what they could do. Taking a quick glance outside, there was a few snowflakes falling but none of them had stayed. It had started snowing yesterday but, not much.</p><p> </p><p>There wasn’t much that they could do, but at the same time Balthazar didn’t want to do much in the snow. Not with those two dreams that he had endured where his past lives died during the winter.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his face, the young man knew that this was going to be a long day, though he just wasn’t sure what more they could do other than stay in their trailers and hope to be able to find something entertaining.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Knock, knock, knock.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes in confusion, Balthazar pushed himself up and made his way toward the door of his trailer. Curious as to who it was that could be knocking. Honestly, he was still rather confused about everything so he figured that everyone was just giving him space to clear his thoughts about everything that was happening.</p><p> </p><p>When he opened the door, he saw Vinnie standing there with a big smile on his face. “Yo Cav! Wanna go for a swim?”</p><p> </p><p>Was he crazy?</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota, it’s snowing.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know.”</p><p> </p><p>“We’ll freeze, or I would since I’m human.” Balthazar blandly said.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, but that’s what I planned ahead for.” Vinnie said with a big grin on his face. Which, only seemed to confuse Balthazar all the more. The demon just chuckled as he added “Indoor pool Cavendish. It has heated pools, a hot tub, and it even has a room where we can dry ourselves off with devices that are like giant hair dryers.”</p><p> </p><p>Why did that sound strange to him?</p><p> </p><p>“Come on, it’ll be fun!” Vinnie said with a big smile on his face. Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little as he watched as the man just seemed to smile all the more. How was it that his smile could be so radiant? Yet, upon closer inspection he saw that Vinnie was nervous, afraid almost. As if he was afraid of the blonde rejecting the proposal to hang out.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine. Just allow me to find something to wear for the pool.” Balthazar said with a mere roll of his eyes before making his way over to his dresser to dig something out. He was thankful that he had thought to pack for such an event to take place though honestly, he hadn’t thought that he would be swimming with Vinnie of all people.</p><p> </p><p>How bad could it be anyway?</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“This place is huge.” Blade said with shocked awe.</p><p> </p><p>It was indeed huge. It was almost the size of a palace, at least to Balthazar’s standards. It had large glass windows that would allow lots of natural light to shine through. Large doors that could easily fit someone maybe seven feet tall. Looking as best as he could, he could see that it had maybe two to three floors for the building. Then of course it looked as if it was going around in a circle, maybe like that of a dome.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t be sure though it was still a nice building either way.</p><p> </p><p>“Let’s just get inside already. I hate the snow.” Crystal mumbled before walking inside the building. Blade followed right behind her.</p><p> </p><p>“So, does Blade have some kind of affection for Crystal or am I reading things wrong with those two?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“No, you’re reading it right. Blade has a thing for Crystal but she doesn’t seem to sense that or maybe she’s just ignoring it.” Vinnie said with a simple shrug of his shoulders before walking on ahead. Balthazar just blinked his eyes in confusion for that one. If they had known each other for as long as he suspected, (possibly hundreds of years) then why wouldn’t Blade just go and talk to Crystal about such a thing? It seemed odd for the blonde but figured maybe it was best to just see how it plays out for himself.</p><p> </p><p>Shrugging his shoulders a little, the young man started to make his way into the building. Following after Vinnie though still maintaining a distance.</p><p> </p><p>Even though he knew that he shouldn’t be afraid of the man, he just couldn’t stop himself from what he was feeling. It just wouldn’t leave him be. It felt as if no matter what he did, no matter what he would do that there was that small part of him that would be afraid of Vinnie. Telling him to stay away from the man as if Vinnie would just suddenly turn on him and try to feed off of him once again… and kill him in the process.</p><p> </p><p>Shuddering at the thought, the blonde knew that he shouldn’t allow himself to feel like this. But it just kept surfacing for the man and knew that it wouldn’t be easy to overcome.</p><p> </p><p>Was this why his family had always told him never to trust a demon? Because they could mess with you in some form? He didn’t know, but felt like it was starting to tear him apart from the inside out.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man looked over at everyone as they started to pay for the admission to use the pool area. Vinnie of course was so giddy with excitement that he was all but bouncing on the balls of his feet. Crystal though just smiled at her friend before looking up at Blade before rolling her eyes in a playful manner. Blade of course just smiled fondly at the woman.</p><p> </p><p>Was it strange that a cat-based demon was in love with a wolf-based demon? He couldn’t really be sure, though he was just so very baffled by the entire ordeal. Then again, he was confused on his own feelings for a demon himself so who was he to judge in the first place?</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, he looked over and saw the curly haired man getting what looked like bracelets and keys. Strange but, he knew that it made sense about the keys but the bracelets? He didn’t know what that was about.</p><p> </p><p>“The bracelets are pretty much proof that we paid to be here. It’s just so they don’t kick us out thinking that we are trying to sneak in.” Crystal explained with a smirk at Balthazar as she turned to stare at him. It was so strange that she knew what he was thinking, just by his emotions alone. Blade though just grinned all the more as he stared at Crystal and placed a hand on her head, rubbing it like one would a pet.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal though didn’t like how he was doing that and just slapped his hand away. “Knock it off Blade.” She mumbled, shaking her head as if trying to shrug off his sign of affection. Balthazar rolled his eyes. Vinnie was right, it was obvious.</p><p> </p><p>“Here ya go Cavendish.” Vinnie appeared in front of him suddenly. Making the blonde nearly jump out of his skin. The shorter man frowned a little at that. “Hey, I wasn’t trying to scare you.” He responded, making Balthazar feel bad. He could see it in the man’s eyes. Vinnie could tell that Balthazar was still afraid of him. To a certain degree, even though Balthazar didn’t want to be afraid of the man before him, he just couldn’t shake the fear away from him.</p><p> </p><p>“It is fine Vinnie. You didn’t frighten me, I was just merely distracted is all.” Which was partly true. He had been distracted from observing the two animal-based demons before him. Because of that, he hadn’t been paying much attention to those around him. Even to Vinnie walking over to him as he went to hand the blonde his bracelet and a key. “Thank you.” Balthazar responded before accepting the items that Vinnie was handing to him.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down at the bracelet, it was a simple plastic one that could easily handle the heat without melting onto the user’s skin. As for the key, it made him figure it was for a locker that would allow someone to store their dry clothes in should they use the pool or anything of the sort.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on, let’s go and change into our swim suits and go into the water already!” Vinnie cheered before making his way down the hall. Everyone followed the Incubus into the changing room. Though Crystal of course went into the woman’s changing room. Balthazar looked around the room before looking down at the key in his hand. There was a number on his key and it made him frown a little.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Balthazar what number is on your key?” asked Blade.</p><p> </p><p>“Five.” Balthazar answered.</p><p> </p><p>“Over here!” Vinnie said with a smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar nodded his head before making his way over to the locker. He saw that he wasn’t near Vinnie or Blade. That made things easier, he hated changing in front of other people. Taking a deep breath, the young man changed out of his usual attire before changing into a pair of forest green swimming trunks.</p><p> </p><p>Once he was done putting his clothes in the locket, he shut and locked the door. Turning around he saw that Blade and Vinnie were coming over toward him. Vinnie was wearing a pair of swim trunks that was red with orange and yellow stripes on the sides, as well as wearing a white undershirt. Odd that he’s wearing a shirt at a pool.</p><p> </p><p>Turning his gaze over to Blade, he saw that the man was wearing a pair of black trunks with grey stripes. Interesting, though he couldn’t help but be surprised with Blade’s physique. He was rather muscular though not overly so. With what the man wore no one would tell his actual body type. Yet, if he was like that then how was Vinnie capable of having a softer figure?</p><p> </p><p>Not that he minded on that.</p><p> </p><p>“So, you ready to go Cav?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“I am, let’s go and meet up with Crystal shall we?” He said before starting to make his way toward the pool. Vinnie and Blade followed not far behind. Leaving the change room, the young man couldn’t help but look behind him for a brief moment. Both demons were chatting among themselves as they talked about possible shows or what could be coming around for them to do next.</p><p> </p><p>It must be nice to have a casual conversation without the fear and worries of what you were raised to believe.</p><p> </p><p>Upon arriving at the pool, Balthazar couldn’t help but stare in shock and awe. It was indeed very large. Two pools, one most likely for children with their families so there wasn’t a strain on them while trying to learn how to swim. Turning his gaze to the other pool, he saw that it almost looked like some kind of Olympic swimming pool used for training purposes.</p><p> </p><p>Across the way, he could see a hot tub being used by a few people though he couldn’t help but stare in shocked awe. To be honest, he couldn’t help but feel like he was back at home though these pools were much larger than the one that his family had. It made him feel like a child in a candy store though he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the pools.</p><p> </p><p>“Happy huh Cavendish?” came Crystal’s voice.</p><p> </p><p>“It is rather impressive to say the least. My family doesn’t have a pool this big and-“ Balthazar turned his head to stare at Crystal only to blink in shock. Crystal was standing there, wearing a modest bikini. (How she could stand wearing something like this in the winter even though they were inside he had no idea) But without her baggy clothes, Balthazar could now see that Crystal was well endowed.</p><p> </p><p>Looking away, a soft blush forming his face as he felt embarrassed for staring.</p><p> </p><p>“Just relax Cavendish.” Crystal calmly said as she started to make her way toward the pool. “We’re here to have fun and relax, panicking isn’t going to help matters for you.”</p><p> </p><p>Blade though leaned over to Balthazar as he whispered “Actually it’s a good thing you didn’t stare long, she hates it. Makes her nervous and she sometimes slaps people.” He then started to make his way toward the pool. Balthazar just blinked his eyes a couple times before tilting his head a little.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie though chuckled a little before looking up at the blonde. “Surprised huh?” The curly haired man said with another chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>“Very. Is it a demon thing for them to be so…”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes and no.” Vinnie responded.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked at him confused.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at the back of his head, Vinnie started to explain. “Crystal explained this better to me.” He mumbled. “See, a demon is normally very fit and in Crystal’s case developed. Demons can be seen as beautiful beings depending on what they were trying to do such as if they are trying to lure them.” That just made Balthazar think of how an Incubi are able to draw in people so they could feed. “But, their bodies can change depending on the mind.”</p><p> </p><p>“Such as?”</p><p> </p><p>“Wonder how I’m able to scar?” That was something he was confused about. Unsure as to how a demon could scar when they have better healing capabilities than a human would. “I scarred because I felt like I deserved it.” What? “I failed your first life, so I felt like I should have a reminder of that failure. The failure though also resulted in well this.” He poked his belly for emphasis before looking up at Balthazar. A hint of sadness was within the depths of his eyes. The blonde could see the pain in his eyes. Knowing that he knew his words to be true.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie felt guilt over the loss.</p><p> </p><p>The demons his parents told him about wouldn’t feel guilt like that. Not enough for it to have changed their physical appearance or even to leave a scar such as that. So, did that mean his family as well as other hunters were wrong about the whole ordeal? That demons didn’t have feelings? That they couldn’t feel love as powerful as the love that Vinnie felt for the same soul?</p><p> </p><p>Just as he was about to reach out toward Vinnie, the shorter man had walked on ahead. His walk was slow, and his shoulders sagged as if he was now carrying a weight that no one in the whole world could understand other than the demon himself. Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little at that. Honestly, he didn’t know what to think, what to do but felt like he had to do something to cheer Vinnie up but what could it be?</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, he started to make his way over toward the many chairs that lined up a ways from the pool before setting his towel on the chair and sat down. He had no idea what he was to do. It just seemed as if everything was still rather conflicting but there was still so much that he didn’t know about demons now. Even though he had spent a good part of his childhood learning about demons. Now, it felt like he knew little to nothing about them.</p><p> </p><p>“You alright?” asked Crystal as she took a seat in the chair next to his.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked up at Crystal as she stared at the young man. Honestly, he didn’t know if he was okay or not. It just seemed as if everything that was around him was starting to surround him, but at the same time he wanted to learn, wanted to understand but he was unsure as to what he was to say. Lowering his gaze, he whispered “I don’t know, if I’m truly honest.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re still worried about us right? About us harming you because of what we are?” Crystal said with a frown on her face. Balthazar nodded his head as he let out a soft sigh. The young man just wasn’t sure what more he could say to be honest. Lifting a shaking hand, he placed it upon his face as he leaned forward. “Cavendish, do you know anything about demons when they find love?” asked Crystal, causing him to lower his hand a little to stare at the woman. Wondering why she was even bringing it up in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but stare at her in confusion. Crystal gave him a small smile before looking over at Vinnie and Blade. Vinnie was already sinking into the hot tub with a content smile on his face as he sank in the water. Just wanting to relax as he leaned back in the water. As for Blade himself, he mostly walked along the edges of the pool looking nervous about the water itself.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, he looked over at Crystal and made a gesture for her to keep going on what she was trying to state with… whatever it is that a demon goes through when they find love.</p><p> </p><p>The young woman gave him a small smile before leaning back on her seat as she let out a soft sigh. “A demon finds one love, just one.” Okay? That sounded rather odd for him, though what did that have to do with what point she was trying to point? It just didn’t make sense to him, but he felt like she had more of a point that she wanted to make. “When a demon loses that love, they all but give up the will to live.”</p><p> </p><p>What?</p><p> </p><p>“They don’t die right away but they just all but give up on living.” Crystal calmly said before looking over at Balthazar as she sighed softly. “Wondered why Vinnie was able to gain weight when Blade and I don’t?” Balthazar nodded his head a little. “When your first life died, Vinnie just locked himself away as he let his wound fester and seep through his clothes till it did finally recover and leave a scar.” Crystal sighed softly before looking back over at the two men. “He would even just eat whatever he could get his hands on and just eat his sorrows away.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar felt guilt in the pit of his stomach. Even though it wasn’t he himself that had caused the man to scar or to make Vinnie gain weight, no matter how minor it would have been… it was still his soul itself that had caused it. “What happens afterwards normally?” asked Balthazar, he wanted to know. No, he <em>had</em> to know what would happen.</p><p> </p><p>“After a while, they die. It’s a slow process, Vinnie was always on the verge of dying each time before seeing you again.” Balthazar could only stare with wide eyes at that. Vinnie had been close to dying each… each time? “Think about it Cavendish.” Crystal whispered softly, causing the blonde to look up at her with wide eyed shock. “Vinnie was happy to have you in his life. Wanting to make jokes with you, wanting to spend time with you, and even protecting you. You’ve seen how protective he was when that guy was holding you right?”</p><p> </p><p>He did. Balthazar recalled how angry Vinnie was when Shadow came into the picture. How the shorter man almost seemed possessive of Balthazar yet, also a hint of protectiveness would hit the shorter man in that moment. Vinnie knew who Balthazar was from the beginning and had wanted to protect him. Yet, when Vinnie would go out of his way to ensure not just Balthazar’s safety but his wellbeing as well?</p><p> </p><p>The blonde couldn’t help but frown in confusion.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a sigh, Balthazar hunched forward as he sighed softly. Unsure as to what he was to feel about all of that information. How could anyone be that in love with someone to the point that they would actually just give up on life? It just didn’t make sense to him. Then again, the young man hadn’t been in love with someone to that degree. Not once.</p><p> </p><p>“You love him right?” Crystal said softly, causing Balthazar to look over at her with a frown. Before he could even answer her though, she just shook her head at him. As if telling him to stay silent. “I can tell you are still having a lot of doubt about what you feel for the man.”</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but nod. Sighing softly, Balthazar said “I just don’t know if the feelings I have for him are mine. Are they mine? Or do they belong to the lives that I had before?” Balthazar let out a soft sigh, unsure as to what to do. He wanted to try to attempt something with the man but, at the same time he was afraid that the feelings in his heart didn’t belong to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish, do you know anything about reincarnation?” asked Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>“Only that a soul is reborn into a new life.” Balthazar replied.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal gave a small shrug. “When a soul is reborn, they are a different person to a degree. Keeping bits and pieces of their past lives but each time they are reborn, they are their own person, not the same but not entirely different as well. What you feel, may have been influenced a tad by the original Cavendish, but you are still your own person with your own feelings and love. Which I can tell is genuinely yours and no one else’s. Talk to him, make a day for just the two of you to see for yourself. Plus, if you recall, you didn’t really like Vinnie at first remember?”</p><p> </p><p>That was true, he didn’t really like Vinnie at first. Then of course if what Crystal said is true, then that had to mean something for the man right? That his feelings were really, and truly his own and not influenced by the memories or feelings of his previous lives?</p><p> </p><p>“Go ask him to spend a day out. Just the two of you, I think it’s something you both need for yourselves.” Crystal gave him a small smile before patting his shoulder. Balthazar blinked his eyes in confusion before giving a small nod.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, one last thing… I know you’ve been kind of afraid of Vinnie’s… other form, yet you aren’t scared of me. Why is it that you’re scared of his ‘female’ form, but not me?” asked Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>“Simple really, you remind me of my sister. That’s why I wasn’t afraid of you, though…” Balthazar frowned a little adding “Plus, since I know it’s Dakota that was that woman I’ve spoken to a couple times make the fear far more noticeable.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, alrighty then. Now, get going and go talk to your man.” Crystal said with a snicker.</p><p> </p><p>Pushing himself up onto his feet, (with a mild blush on his face) the young man started to make his way over toward Vinnie who was still in the hot tub. The shorter man let out a soft sigh as he sank a little more into the water. Balthazar knew that this was going to be a bit difficult for him, though he knew that this was something that needed to be done. Plus, he kind of missed going out and about with just Vinnie alone.</p><p> </p><p>Biting his lower lip, the young man whispered “Hey, Dakota?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes as he looked up at Balthazar by tilting his head back. His shades had slid down his face a little as he stared at the blonde. “Sup Cavendish?”</p><p> </p><p>Looking away shyly, Balthazar asked “I was wondering, if you’d like to go somewhere? I’ll allow you to choose since I’m pretty sure I’ve chosen the majority of our destinations.” Which he felt like was true. Most of the locations that they had gone too were of his own choosing and he felt like it wasn’t fair to the man. He almost thought that Vinnie would just ignore him for that one, making him think that maybe he had messed everything up before it could be fixed. Before he could repair what had been damaged.</p><p> </p><p>“I understand if you do not wish to spend time alone with me after everything that’s happened. With how I’ve acted, how I’ve been afraid.”</p><p> </p><p>“Cav.”</p><p> </p><p>“But, you must understand as well. I was raised to hate and fear…” He didn’t want to say ‘demon’ more thinking that someone would hear what Vinnie and the others were. It was far too risky when there were a few people nearby in the hot tub.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar let out a deep sigh as he went on. “But, I don’t want that to stop or ruin our friendship or… what could be more. I wish to fix what I had damaged if you’ll let me.”</p><p> </p><p>Before he could even hear an answer, someone bumped into him, knocking the blonde into the hot tub. He let out a yelp of shock and surprise as he fell in with a big splash. “Cavendish?!” shouted Vinnie as he dove under the water and helped the blonde up to the surface. Balthazar coughed and sputtered the water that had managed to reach into his lungs for a brief moment. He groaned a little as he pushed his bangs back as he looked over at Vinnie. Who was holding him, the warm tingling danced across his skin once again.</p><p> </p><p>“You alright?” asked Vinnie with a frown.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m fine, just… soggy.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie laughed a little before helping to brush the man’s hair back. Balthazar honestly found the feeling to be rather comforting if he was honest. “So… about my proposal of us spending time together?” the blonde inclined.</p><p> </p><p>“Hm? Oh yeah honestly that sounds like an awesome idea. It’s been a while since we’ve got to hang out together.” Vinnie said with a big smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe things could start going in the right direction once again. He hoped that would be the case anyway. Even, that he could finally overcome his fear over everything that had happened thus far. Though that was something that only time itself could really say for the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, Crystal was watching from afar as she smiled at the two. She was happy that she could give some advice for the blonde in the hopes that maybe he could have some kind of relationship with Vinnie this time around. Yet, there was still the mystery as to why Balthazar was even dying in the first place. His last four lives all died for one reason or another and that was still baffling. There had to be a cause, and she wanted to figure that out. For now though, she’ll have to wait and see.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yeah, demons normally can't scar or gain weight because most demons are meant to fight and be 'beautiful'. But Vinnie? because of his guilt and depression, he was able to scar and gain weight though not overly so. He can lose the weight should he feel like he doesn't feel that guilt anymore but I'm debating on if he should or not haha. Now, I should bring up next chapter? is the longest chapter I've ever written for a chapter in ANY story so be prepared, lots of feelings in that one plus a slight battle. I won't say what happens, ENJOY!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Day From Bad, To Good, To Hellish?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar and Vinnie go out to have fun. Hoping to remove the remains of the nightmare that Vinnie had though, it was fun but it had gone to hell.</p>
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  <em>Vinnie found himself wandering around in what could be best described as a black void. He couldn’t help but frown a little as he tried to find a means out of this place. “Why am I even here?” He asked himself, unsure if he was even going to get an answer. He just gave a shrug as he kept walking through the void, hoping to find some kind of exit or just someone else to talk to. That’d be nice for sure.</em>
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  <em>Though, at the same time Vinnie couldn’t help but wonder as to where he was. What this place was or even if there was a way for him to get out of this place.</em>
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  <em>Letting out a soft sigh, the demon couldn’t help but rub the back of his head while trying to find another way out. Maybe if he ran it would get him to the exit sooner? Or even give him an idea as to where he was going.</em>
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  <em>Frowning, the short man groaned as he started to run. He hated running, hated it with a passion. But knew that when it came time for it he’d go to great lengths to ensure that everything was okay. Even if it mean trying to run.</em>
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  <em>Though as he ran, he saw someone standing in the distance. Eyes widening in hope, Vinnie rushed forward. “Hey! Do you know where we are? I’m lost here!”</em>
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  <em>The figure slowly turned around. The clothes the person wore were oddly familiar. Made Vinnie think of the past honestly, maybe from the 1500’s or 1600’s… wait… </em>
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  <em>Upon getting closer he saw the familiar shade of caramel blonde hair. Vinnie felt his eyes widen in shock as he backed up. Fear reaching his heart in that moment before the figure turned around. There was blood staining the figure’s clothes from their chest and just seemed to keep gushing down. As if the injury was still fresh, having just happened in that moment. “Balthazar…” Vinnie whispered as he kept backing up in fear.</em>
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  <em>“Why did you let me die my dear? I thought you loved me.” Balthazar said, the first Balthazar… The man that had created a chain of reincarnation that almost seemed to be never ending till the fourth Balthazar Cavendish came into his life. “Did you not love me such as you claimed to have?” He said.</em>
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  <em>“I did love you! I do!” Vinnie shouted.</em>
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  <em>Before he could even hear anything more, Vinnie ran off as quickly as he could, wanting to get as far away from that version of Balthazar as possible. Not wanting to be near the first Balthazar, not while he was losing blood like that! Though he saw another person, this person looked like they had gone swimming as they were dripping onto the floor of the void. “Hey, can you tell me how to get the hell outta here?”</em>
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  <em>The person turned around, their toffee blonde coloured hair clung to the person’s forehead, making Vinnie feel like he was having a moment where he had seen this person before but at the same time felt like he hadn’t wanted to recall such a thing. Not in a moment like this at least. When they looked up at Vinnie, brushing their hair back as their eyes stared at Vinnie blankly. It was the second Balthazar.</em>
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  <em>The one that he knew drowned to his death in a frozen lake. His blue lips trembled as he tried to speak. “You didn’t come for me…”</em>
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  <em>“I’m sorry!” Vinnie shouted as he backed up.</em>
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  <em>“Sorry didn’t keep me from drowning.”</em>
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  <em>The young man clenched his hands into tight fists as he ran off. Tears building in his eyes as he tried to escape from this. Why was he seeing the past lives of Balthazar when he hadn’t even seen all of them when they died? It didn’t make sense to him, but he knew that he couldn’t stick around to look for more. He had to find a means of escape.</em>
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  <em>“Vincent you allowed me to die.” Said another Balthazar, the third one. He knew from the way he had a branch sticking out of his chest. Blood dripping down from the branch, his platinum blonde hair almost looked like it was frozen in chunks but remained upon his head. His skin though, was blue from being in the cold for who knows how long. Even blood splatters were upon his lips and chin from the impalement. </em>
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  <em>“Leave me alone!” shouted Vinnie as he skidded to a stop before running in another direction. More tears build within his eyes as he tried to find a means out of this place.</em>
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  <em>“Vinnie…” came a female voice, causing the curly haired man to stop dead in his tracks as he stood a few feet away from the previous life of Balthazar Cavendish.</em>
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  <em>“Katherina…” He whispered in shock and pain.</em>
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  <em>Her long strawberry blonde hair clung to her body, coated in blood. Her cheeks stained with tears and her clothes torn and cut from being attacked as well as raped. Vinnie backed up, only to yelp as he felt himself bumping into something. Looking over his shoulder, he saw one of the Balthazar’s behind him. He backed away right away. “You know you failed all of us.” Katherina whispered softly, causing Vinnie to look at her for a brief moment.</em>
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  <em>Before he saw that the others were also joining in their little ‘circle’ that surrounded the Incubus. Staring with wide eyes, he tried to find a means of escape but could find none. “What do you want from me?!” Vinnie shouted.</em>
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  <em>“You to suffer.” One of the Balthazar’s said. He didn’t know which one, they all sounded alike. Well, not including Katherina but that was due to her being the only female reincarnation of Balthazar.</em>
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  <em>“But why?! I tried to save you all! I didn’t know that two of you died till it was too late to have done anything!” Vinnie shouted.</em>
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  <em>“You claimed to have loved us.” One said.</em>
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  <em>“Yet you still allowed us to die, even your own powers weren’t enough to save us.” Said another.</em>
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  <em>“Did you even care about us at all?”</em>
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  <em>It was staring to become a circle of blame, guilt, and shame. Vinnie fell to his knees as he clutched at his head. Tears streaming down his cheeks, repeating for them to ‘please forgive’ him for what had happened. Yet, their taunts kept coming.</em>
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  <em>“Dakota?” came another voice, causing Vinnie to look up as the circle opened up, a new figure walking into the circle of the lives of those he’s failed.</em>
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  <em>“Cavendish?” He whispered in shock.</em>
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  <em>Balthazar walked into the circle with a frown on his face as he stared down at Vinnie. His turquoise eyes, the one thing that’s never changed in his past lives, and hasn’t changed now. He looked the same, no injury, no blood no nothing. That had to be a good sign right? Yeah, he was fine, he was safe and that was all that mattered. Right?</em>
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  <em>“Why did you do it Dakota?” asked Balthazar, causing the Incubus to frown in confusion. Before the shorter man could ask, Balthazar’s body started to shrivel up into that of a man with nothing more than skin clinging to his skeleton. His eyes disappeared, leaving nothing but empty sockets. His teeth had nearly all fallen out, blood stained his lips and seemed to pour out of his eyes. “Why did you let me die?”</em>
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  <em>Vinnie could only stare in horror as he screamed.</em>
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</p><p>Balthazar sighed softly as he paced about in his trailer. He wondered where Vinnie wanted to go, the man had yet to tell him that information. Though at the same time, Vinnie had been around for such a long time so there couldn’t have been much that he hadn’t seen as of yet. But, it didn’t stop the blonde from wanting to at least try to learn something about the demon.</p><p> </p><p>A demon that had loved many, many times to the point that it had nearly killed him each time Balthazar’s past lives had died.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a deep sigh, he turned to his couch. “What do you think Peaches? Where do you think Vinnie would pick for us to go?” The bunny just looked up at the blonde, wriggled her nose before getting comfortable once again. Of course, he hadn’t really expected any kind of an answer from the bunny. But, talking to her helped to clear his thoughts sometimes. To at least get himself sorted out mentally.</p><p> </p><p>Looking at his watch, he saw that it was still pretty early but even then, Vinnie would have arrived even with some coffee or tea for the two of them to have in order to ‘wake up’ from having getting up so early. Rubbing at his face, the young man picked up Peaches and set her back in her cage so she wouldn’t try to get out should someone else try to get in his trailer while he was out and about.</p><p> </p><p>Once he was sure that Peaches was comfortable, he left her some lettuce and started to make his way over to Vinnie’s trailer.</p><p> </p><p>His gaze would wander about. Taking a look around as he tried to look out for any sign of danger. Though, he knew that Vinnie wouldn’t really need anyone to look out for him anymore since he was a demon. Could easily fight to protect himself, heck he had protected Balthazar himself a few times from either something falling or that creepy man that had tried to flirt with him. That had to count for something when it came to his abilities or strengths doesn’t it?</p><p> </p><p>Soon, the young man blinked as he looked up and saw that he had arrived at the trailer in question. Odd, normally it took him a little longer for him to arrive. Maybe he had been so very distracted that he hadn’t even noticed?  That would be possible, though he had a sinking feeling that something was wrong.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?” He called out, knocking at the door of the man’s trailer.</p><p> </p><p>No answer.</p><p> </p><p>“Odd.” He mumbled before reaching out and opened the door. Still unlocked, hadn’t anyone bothered to try to get the lock fixed at all? That was just a safety hazard for sure, though it’s a good thing that Vinnie is a demon, nothing can kill him other than weapons that have pure proprieties or have been blessed.</p><p> </p><p>Though thankfully he wouldn’t dare to try to use that on Vinnie. Not like he believed he’d have a chance of it. More so since he would lack the art of surprise.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the blonde carefully opened the door as he peeked inside. “Dakota?” He called out again, hoping to get some kind of an answer. A soft mumbling could be heard though that was about it. Balthazar couldn’t be sure if that was the man he was looking for, or if it was someone else. Though, he highly doubted that anyone else was in the man’s trailer in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?” He called out again, hoping to get an answer of some kind from the man. Yet more whimpering hit his ears. “Dakota?” Balthazar frowned as he rushed to the back of the trailer. Making his way over toward Vinnie’s room in the hopes that the man was alright.</p><p> </p><p>What he saw broke his heart.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie lied there in his bed, tangled up in his sheets, sweat coating his forehead as he gritted his teeth as if he was in pain. Yet the one thing that really hit Balthazar was the tears that streamed down his cheeks. “Dakota…?” He whispered, unsure as to what he was to do. What he could even say to the man.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry… Balthazar I’m so sorry… Katherina please forgive me.” Vinnie whispered in his sleep as he rolled onto his side. A sob escaping him as he choked up. Opening his mouth as if he was about to cry out for help but, it seemed as if he couldn’t speak any louder than he already was.</p><p> </p><p>Tightly gripping his sheets, Vinnie rolled over as he cried in his sleep. Slowly he reached up as if trying to swipe away at anyone that would dare try to attack him. Balthazar couldn’t just stand there watching this. It was painful, painful to see Vinnie in so much pain, but painful to know that it was because the man still felt tremendous guilt over what had happened in the past.</p><p> </p><p>A monster, he wouldn’t have this much guilt in a dream.</p><p> </p><p>Reaching forward, Balthazar grabbed a hold of Vinnie’s shoulders and gently shook him. “Dakota, Dakota it’s a dream. You shouldn’t allow it to take hold of your mind like this. Come on now.” Balthazar pleaded, unsure if it would even work in the first place, though he just hoped and prayed that Vinnie would hear him. Would wake up. Anything really.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on now Dakota, you have terrible jokes to speak. Maybe even a pun here or two to make me want to slap you. Please, just wake up, I beg of you.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie whimpered and whined in his sleep, more tears seemed to stream down his face as he whimpered. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Would escape him now and again. Causing Balthazar to panic a little. Was this dream that powerful? Were dreams powerful for demons? Or was it just because Vinnie was far too deep in the world of dreams to escape from such a thing?</p><p> </p><p>Then, Vinnie started to scream in horror. The scream sent a shock through Balthazar, something that he had never felt before in his entire life. With how Vinnie was screaming, it made his heart constrict from the sight, the way Vinnie kept tossing and turning, the way his screams just kept going, made his ears ring. His heart couldn’t stand this sight anymore.</p><p> </p><p>Without thinking, he slapped Vinnie hard across the face.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie’s eyes snapped open in shock before he looked up at Balthazar. Orbs of blue and amber staring up at him with wide eyed shock. As if he hadn’t been expecting to wake up in such a fashion. Balthazar let out a soft sigh as he asked “Are you alright?”</p><p> </p><p>“I… I uh…” Vinnie said, unsure as to if he should admit the truth or just try to lie. Before he could stop himself from doing so, Balthazar reached forward as he carefully wiped away at Vinnie’s tears. Unsure as to why he was doing such a thing but, he knew that tears didn’t belong on his face. “I’m okay…” Vinnie whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Pulling his hands back, Balthazar nodded as he pulled himself away and looked away from the man. “What were you dreaming about?” He asked the demon.</p><p> </p><p>“I was… surrounded by your past lives. They looked as they did when they died and, they blamed me for their deaths.” Vinnie whispered. The sound of ruffling sheets reached the blonde’s ears. “I won’t lie, the nightmares don’t happen very often anymore but, when they hit me they hit hard.” The demon went on, causing Balthazar to frown a little more.  “I don’t sleep much because of those dreams, but what can ya do right? Dreams are… they just happen. No matter if you want them to be dreams or nightmares.”</p><p> </p><p>“You shouldn’t have to go through such an ordeal though. You’ve done nothing-“</p><p> </p><p>“That’s the point though Cavendish. I did <em>nothing</em> for your past lives. I couldn’t save the first life, wasn’t there for the second and third… and I didn’t find Katherina soon enough to save her.” Vinnie looked up at the blonde, his smile big but forced. Balthazar could tell that it was forced, he knew the man’s smiles better than anyone and that… that was no true smile. “It’s my fault that they’re dead after all, I couldn’t save them before and I can’t save them now.”</p><p> </p><p>“Because they have been reborn! Many times Dakota, you know that.” Balthazar said with a glare.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, yeah that’s true. But doesn’t stop the guilt.” Vinnie said, finishing getting dressed as he set his shades over his eyes. “Now, let’s just head out yeah? I wanna have some fun and leave the whole ‘gloom and doom’ thing behind for the day.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown at that. Why would he not want to talk more about this? He had tried to get Balthazar himself to talk about his own dreams yet, Vinnie wouldn’t even go talk more about his own dreams? His nightmares? It made him want to learn more about the man now, but would Vinnie even allow himself to do so? He had no idea, but he hoped to help the man somehow…</p><p> </p><p>And in the process, remove his own fears and worries about Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“So, where are we going then Dakota?” asked Balthazar, hoping to change the topic for the time being.</p><p> </p><p>“Easy!”</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“The zoo!” declared Vinnie as they arrived to their destination.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar could only stare in annoyance as he slowly turned his gaze over to the Incubus. “We’ve traveled for over an hour, for you just to say what our destination is?!” Honestly, he wanted to slap Vinnie for that one, though at the same time he couldn’t bring himself to do so.</p><p> </p><p>The mental images of Vinnie screaming, crying… it brought pain to him in that moment. Though seeing the bright smile upon his face, well the blonde couldn’t help but roll his eyes before mumbling “Let us just get inside and enjoy the day shall we?” Vinnie blinked his eyes at that before he just grinned.</p><p> </p><p>“Hell yeah!” He shouted before running on through the gate. Singing along the lines of “We’re going to the zoo, we’re going to the zoo, we’re going to the zoo and we’re going to see some animals!” Honestly, he found that to brighten his day a little more. Even though Vinnie wouldn’t share everything about his nightmare, he at least wanted the man to share something with him. Even if it was something as small as this.</p><p> </p><p>Folding his arms behind his back, Balthazar followed the curly haired man into the zoo. Mostly just following Vinnie since he himself had no idea what kind of animals resided in the zoo. Or even what habitats they were even from in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie would run about from animal to animal. Balthazar almost swore that the man had stars in his eyes at the sights of each animal that he would have in his line of vision. Honestly, it was something that he wouldn’t ever see from the man. Though if he was honest it was rather endearing to say the least.</p><p> </p><p>Chuckling a little, Balthazar had a faint smile on his face as he followed Vinnie through the many exhibits that housed the many animals.</p><p> </p><p>Though, he couldn’t help but frown a little as he wondered why Vinnie loved animals so much. It was rather confusing to say the least. Looking down at the man who was now looking at the tigers who, were just lazing about.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota, if I may ask why are you so interested in animals in the first place?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you see when I was a kid my parents would take me and Crystal to the human realm and to the Zoo. It was a memory that I still hold fondly ya know?” Vinnie said with a soft smile before looking up at the taller man. “I come here because it makes me feel closer to them even though they’re gone.”</p><p> </p><p>“You miss them terribly don’t you?” asked Balthazar. He wouldn’t know what it’s like to lose a parent, let alone both of them but it had to have been painful. Vinnie had gone through a lot it seemed. Honestly, the blonde wanted to reach out and hold Vinnie but he felt like he had no right to do so.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie nodded his head slowly. “Yeah, it hadn’t been that long ago to demons but for humans it sure was a while ago.” He calmly said as he wiped at his face with a soft sigh. “I miss my dad’s.”</p><p> </p><p>Wait what?</p><p> </p><p>“Dads?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hm? Yeah, I told you that my kind can easily change their internal reproductive organs to male or female. I had two dads, though only one could fully change their sex at will. Which is how I can do it myself but I don’t use it very often.” Vinnie calmly explained as he looked up at Balthazar with a confused stare. “It’s one of the reasons why Crystal doesn’t like any of that girly stuff. She was raised by two guys.”</p><p> </p><p>“But-“</p><p> </p><p>“Plus, she just hates all that girly stuff anyway. Said that a woman shouldn’t be defined as some weak person that needs to be saved at all times of the day.” Vinnie chuckled a little as he added “To be honest she has a point. After all, you get saved a bit.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh be quiet.” Balthazar said with a faint blush on his face. Okay, yes he has needed saving a few times, but that didn’t make him some damsel in distress did it? Looking away, he let out a soft sigh as he asked “So, I’m rather curious, how Crystal and Blade came to your family if I’m not being too forward?”</p><p> </p><p>“Hm?” Vinnie hummed as he moved over to the lion’s den, Balthazar close behind. “Well, I don’t know everything about it since Crystal kept a few things to herself.” Vinnie began with a frown on his face. “I was out playing in the gardens one day. I was bored, was looking at the flowers while trying to find something to entertain myself with.” The curly haired man rubbed the back of his head while trying to recall the event. Balthazar was rather curious as to what had happened back then. Or how long ago it was since he had no idea how demons aged. “Well, I heard something and then saw something coming toward me.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little at that.</p><p> </p><p>“I got scared at first till I saw it was a girl who may have been a little younger than me.” So Crystal was younger than Vinnie? Odd, she seemed as if she was older than him since she seemed to have her head on straight for the most part even if she was vulgar and had a bad temper. “She looked exhausted, covered in dirt and had some scrapes and bruises and I won’t lie, I was terrified for her.” Vinnie sighed softly before looking over at Balthazar as he kept going. “I asked if she was okay, got no answer and Crystal collapsed. I helped her up and carried her inside my home to my parents for help.”</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his face, Vinnie’s glasses shifted a little and had even lowered on his nose a bit. Revealing his bi coloured eyes as he whispered “She was asleep for days, was weak, starving and honestly it was amazing that she survived at all.” Vinnie looked over at Balthazar as he said “I don’t know everything only that her father was killed and when asked about her mother, she just replied that she had no idea who her mother was. We don’t know how her father died, or when or even where for that matter. Either she didn’t remember, or didn’t want to remember. There is still a few things that she won’t reveal but, hard to say on the reason for it.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little at that.</p><p> </p><p>“As for Blade, his story is a little more basic.” Vinnie chuckled a little. “Crystal and I were wandering the gardens but we got separated for a bit. When I found her, I saw Crystal tending to Blade who had found his way onto the lands. She was healing him that was when we learned that Crystal had healing abilities which is unheard of for a demon.”</p><p> </p><p>That is rather odd, then again so is a demon being an empath. Made Balthazar wonder if there was more to her abilities than anyone knew about.</p><p> </p><p>“After she was done healing him, Blade had vowed to protect us. He was a warrior from a clan, the clan members had a disagreement with him being the next chief. They fought in the hopes of killing Blade but, he was able to kill them but not unscathed. He was nearly dead from what Crystal told me.” Vinnie said with a small shrug before looking over at the lions once again. Maybe wanting to focus on the lions instead this time around. Taking a deep breath, the shorter man said “Though, I think that was when Blade started to develop feelings for Crystal since she healed him without a second thought. With her being a Fire Lyan and him being a Nekoline. Supposed to be enemies with the whole ‘dog and cat’ dynamic but, doesn’t stop him.” Vinnie chuckled a little.</p><p> </p><p>Well, Balthazar had to admit that it was a rather odd dynamic for sure. Though it was still a weird thing to see for sure though. But, it worked for those two at least. It seemed that they could at least get along but he just hoped that everything worked out for those two in the long run.</p><p> </p><p>But, the main thing was the smile on Vinnie’s face at the memories that he seemed to be having. No matter if it was meeting his friends, thinking of his family, or whatever may come. He had a true smile on his face, and that was something that Balthazar could be thankful for.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“I can’t believe you ate all of that cotton candy.” Balthazar said with a shudder. He liked sweets as much as the next person, but to eat that much? It made the blonde sick just thinking about such a thing. He couldn’t help but shudder at all the thought of the sugar coursing through him. If he ate that much, either Balthazar would be sick for a week, or he’d be bouncing off of the walls.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie was doing neither of those things.</p><p> </p><p>He just grinned up at the blonde, walking backwards as he stared at the man before him. Arms folded behind his head as he chuckled. “Hey, it was awesome. I did offer you some you know.”</p><p> </p><p>“I was disgusted with how much you could eat of that stuff.” Balthazar mumbled before rolling his eyes. Arms folded behind his head as he just stared at the demon before him. “Why do you insist on eating so much in the first place? Does food even do anything for you?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie chuckled. “Not much, it helps with the cravings to feed now and again but that’s about it. I normally can’t gain weight from human food but due to guilt and whatnot, I gained weight and can scar like I mentioned before.” The demon explained with a small smile. “But either way, I had fun today Cav. Thanks for taking me out to the zoo.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar felt a blush tinting his cheeks at that. Coughing into his hand as he looked away, the blonde calmly said “But I merely allowed you to pick where we went for the day was all. You had a right to choose thanks to being in your um… funk as of late.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but I still had fun either way!” Vinnie said with a grin on his face as he laughed. “Still, thanks for the trip though Cavendish, I needed this.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re welcome Dakota.” Balthazar calmly replied before looking away and frowned a little. “Why are those people staring at us?” Asked the blonde with confusion on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie looked around in that moment and his eyes narrowed into slits. This wasn’t right, he’s never seen this happen before, and the way their eyes looked was unnatural. “Hey Cav, you have your gun or knife on you at all?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“I do, why?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because these people aren’t normal.” Vinnie said as he stood in front of Balthazar, as if trying to shield him from any attack. The people was starting to surround them, Vinnie knew that this was indeed not normal. That was for sure, though he wasn’t sure what was wrong with them. Their eyes, empty and void of life and emotion.</p><p> </p><p>Yet he could tell that they were indeed alive. Their skin still had that glow of life but the thing that disturbed him the most was how they didn’t seem to be effected by his charm in any shape or form.</p><p> </p><p>Reaching into his pockets, the demon pulled out his weapon of choice. Weighted gloves, something that he wasn’t a fan of using when he shouldn’t have too. But when push comes to shove, his main weapon of choice as Vinnie was more verse in hand to hand combat.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota, do you think you can really fight them? They’re human.” Balthazar said with worry in his voice, yet didn’t seem to have stopped him as he pulled out his gun.</p><p> </p><p>“Something aint right with them though Cav. Look at their eyes! It’s as if they have no souls here!” Vinnie all but shouted.</p><p> </p><p>“That isn’t possible.”</p><p> </p><p>“Cav, you’re talking to a demon that feeds off of people’s lustful energies and who is friends with a race that was long thought gone and a Nekoline who just so happens to be in love with the last Fire Lyan.” Vinnie pointed out with a bland stare.</p><p> </p><p>“Touché.”</p><p> </p><p>Looking up, Vinnie saw one of the… soulless people? Yeah, he’ll just call them ‘Soulless’ for now with how their eyes looked. Anyway, he threw a punch as one of them tried to get a hold of Vinnie. They were knocked down, and as for Balthazar he shot his gun a couple times. The ones that were hit, did indeed fall over but didn’t even stay down. They would merely push themselves back up onto their feet and try to walk toward Vinnie and Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>The Incubus stared with a narrow of his eyes and snarl a little as he kept throwing punches. Balthazar of course kept shooting his gun, though he ended up running out of bullets eventually. “Blast!” Balthazar hissed before pulling out his knife. Vinnie though couldn’t help but look around at their surroundings. Knowing that he would have to find a means for them to escape this situation.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota, what are we going to do?!” Balthazar cried out, out of panic seeming to swell within the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie gulped a little. He was nervous about this, there was no way of knowing what these people were even after. Either it was him, Balthazar or both. Either way, they were attacking for a reason. One of the Soulless threw a punch at the Incubus. Vinnie of course ducked and threw a punch hard enough to send the person flying. Though it didn’t seem to have stopped the attackers as they just kept on coming.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing his eyes, he said “We need to find an escape.”</p><p> </p><p>“How?!” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m… I’m thinking just give me a second.”</p><p> </p><p>“We don’t have a second!” shouted Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>He knew that they were running out of time. Throwing a punch or a kick, Vinnie would look around trying to find a means of escape. Hoping to find something, anything but wasn’t sure if it would even be enough for him at this point. Then he saw an opening in the crowd that had started to surround the two men. “Cavendish, this way!” shouted Vinnie as he grabbed the blonde and ran through the opening. It was odd that they would even have an opening in the first place but he wasn’t going to complain.</p><p> </p><p>Looking back, he saw the Soulless coming toward them still. “Dakota, what are we going to do?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“I have an idea. Just listen to me alright? We’re going to go into this building and go to the roof.” Vinnie calmly spoke before he looked up at the blonde. The taller man blinked his eyes, seeming to be a little confused by the idea. “Just trust me on this.” Balthazar seemed confused about the whole thing but nodded.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar rushed into the building, Vinnie right behind him as he ran on ahead. Hoping to get them to the next building from the rooftop. That was at least his plan, he’s not sure how far it would get them but it was at least a try.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a yelp, he found his ankle caught on something. Knocking him down to the ground with a grunt of pain. Looking over, he saw that one of the Soulless beings had some kind of lasso or something like it and thrown it at Vinnie. It caught his ankle but thankfully didn’t tangle him up.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing his eyes, Vinnie managed to remove the rope from his ankles before he pushed himself back onto his shoulders before placing his hands behind his head, then threw himself up onto his feet in a slight jump before looking at his surroundings once again. Eyes widening, he grabbed one of the signs from the ground and ripped it out from the concrete. “I may not be Jackie Chan but this will have to do!”</p><p> </p><p>Twirling the metal sign in his hand like a staff, Vinnie used it to slap some of the attackers away from him. Carefully making his way toward the apartment building, or at least he assumed it was an apartment. “Dakota?! What’s taking you so long!” shouted Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“I got my hands full!” shouted Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>With that, he managed to get into the building and slammed the door shut before looking over. There was Balthazar at the staircase. He hadn’t gone far, most likely trying to wait for Vinnie to catch up. Though honestly, he had hoped that the man would have ran on ahead for his own safety. “Get moving Cavendish!” shouted Vinnie as they both started to run up the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>The door slammed open behind them. Vinnie looked over his shoulder and stared with wide eyes. They were still a few flights ahead of their attackers, though Vinnie started to notice something else about the Soulless. Most of them had weapons on them, now he couldn’t smell pure objects like Crystal could, but even he could see the faint glow of pure energy that was just flowing through the weapons.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Hunters… but something isn’t right with them.’</em> Thought Vinnie with a narrow of his eyes. “Keep going Cavendish, I’ll keep them distracted or at least try to.” Balthazar looked like he wanted to decline the offer that he wanted to stay to help Vinnie with all of this. Though Vinnie’s eyes flashed dangerously, as if telling the blonde not to go against him right now.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar bit his lower lip before running up the stairs ahead of the Incubus.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie took a deep breath as he looked down at the Soulless. He knew that he’d have to come up with a means of slowing them down. At least long enough to get to the top. If he could get to the top of the building, then he could at least get them to the next building if that would work. If they could get to the next building then it would at least give them a means of escape since pretty much all of them would be in here trying to catch the two, and would end up needing to get out in order to catch them.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing his eyes, Vinnie looked down at his phone for a quick moment. He had an idea though to help them escape should it get to that. Quickly, he sent a text to Crystal and Blade, unsure if they were near each other or not. But knew that he would have to do something to help the two men escape from this.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up at the wall next to the staircase, Vinnie had an idea as to what he could do. His gaze fell back onto the oncoming attackers and narrowed his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“I think it’s time for an ‘emergency’ exit don’t you think.” Vinnie declared before pulling his fist back. Building up as much of his strength that he could muster and threw a punch at the wall. Creating cracks through the wall before he threw both of his fingers into the brick and pulled it out. It created a hole in the building for the most part but it created a barricade for him to use. Smirking, he created a new wall and used the brick to block the staircase from the attackers and him.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, Vinnie fell to his knees, sweat coating his forehead as he felt his energy starting to dwindle.</p><p> </p><p>“I have… to feed… fuck.” He mumbled before shaking his head. No, he didn’t have time for this. He at least had enough strength to try to get Balthazar to safety first. Looking at his makeshift wall, he saw that they were already starting to find a way to climb the wall. <em>’Must have arrows they can stick into the wall or rope or something.’ </em>Vinnie thought to himself before jumping to his feet. Already feeling winded before he started to run up the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish! Keep moving to the roof I have a plan!” shouted Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Already on the roof!” replied the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Good, if they can get to the roof, then they would have a means of jumping to the next building. He at least had enough energy to do that so long as the distance wasn’t an issue. The only other solution would most likely drain the last of his energy but if it meant saving Balthazar than he would do it should it come to it.</p><p> </p><p>Dear lord he hoped it wouldn’t.</p><p> </p><p>Making a sharp turn, Vinnie yelped out in shock as an arrow whizzed by his head. Hitting the wall by him. Leaning over the railing, he saw that the hunters, the Soulless army starting to overcome the barricade that he had created and started to attack him from a distance. He still had no idea if they were after him or Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Shit, this is getting more complicated!’</em> He thought to himself with a snarl. “Cavendish, get to the roof’s edge closer to the next building!” Shouted Vinnie as he started to run again. Pushing himself hard and harder than he’s ever thought to be possible for him in this state.</p><p> </p><p>He would slam into the wall here and there as he ran, bruising himself a little but he made it to the roof. Breathing deeply, the shorter man fell to his knees. Feeling exhausted.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota!” shouted Balthazar as he rushed to the shorter man and helped him to his feet. “Are you alright?”</p><p> </p><p>“Fine… just… hungry.”</p><p> </p><p>“But you ate-“</p><p> </p><p>“Not for food Cav.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” Balthazar blinked before looking around at their surroundings. “So what do you plan for us to do?” asked the blonde in confusion.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie managed to catch his second wind before pushing himself up onto his feet and slammed the door shut behind him. He grabbed something and managed to jam the door for now. “That won’t hold them long.” Which seemed to be true, even though he couldn’t sense any kind of emotional state of them being attracted to him, (which he thought to be impossible) he knew that something was wrong with them. Looking at the building nearest to the apartment, Vinnie grabbed a hold of the taller man and managed to get to the edge.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, we just need to jump to the next… building.” The shorter man said only to stare with wide eyes. The next building, near as it was, was sadly too far for him to jump, as well as too tall for him to jump. “Fuck!” He shouted, making Balthazar jump a little at his language.</p><p> </p><p><em>’No! I can’t make the jump. Even if I was to get a running start, even without Balthazar in my arms I can’t make it!’</em> Vinnie thought to himself before he looked over at the doorway that they came from. The sound of people pounding on the door was hitting his ears. He couldn’t help but curse to himself as he bit his lip. There was one other idea left that he could do, though the risks was far greater than jumping would be.</p><p> </p><p>A risk that they would have to take in this moment.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up at the blonde next to him, images of his dream coming back to him. The mere thought of losing Balthazar again, he felt like it would kill him this time because now he has a chance to stop his death. And he was going to ensure that the man stayed alive this time around. Nightmare be damn, he asked “Do you trust me?”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Balthazar looked at him in confusion. It seemed that the question had caught him off guard. Though Vinnie wasn’t going to allow him to think on this too long. The blonde’s safety was top priority right now.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you, or do you not trust me Balthazar.” Vinnie said with a narrow of his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>It seemed that Balthazar hadn’t expected Vinnie to say his first name. His face went pink, his eyes widening before looking at Vinnie just in shock. Though the shorter man was panicking at this moment as he looked back at the door, the Soulless were starting to break the door down. Sweat starting to pour down his face from panic before he looked back up at the blonde. “Do you trust me? At all Balthazar?”</p><p> </p><p>The shock seemed to have worn off as Balthazar nodded his head. “I do.”</p><p> </p><p>“Good, now hold onto me, because we are going to jump-“</p><p> </p><p>“What?! In case you’ve forgotten I’m human Dakota! You may be able to survive this jump but I won’t-“</p><p> </p><p>“Trust me. I would <em>never</em> risk your life. Not so long as I breathe, you will <em>always</em> be safe with me.”</p><p> </p><p>The taller man gulped a little before wrapping his arms around Vinnie’s neck. Vinnie of course wrapped his arm around the blonde’s waist, and another around his chest to keep him secure within his arms. Narrowing his eyes, the curly haired man looked behind him before eyes widening. The Soulless had broken through the door.</p><p> </p><p>Looks like it was now or never.</p><p> </p><p>With that, he jumped off of the building, Balthazar’s screams hit his ears.</p><p> </p><p>Tightly shutting his eyes, the curly haired man felt the skin on his back wriggling around. This was something he normally only did a few times a year but right now was an emergency. He knew that this was the moment that he had to do if he was going to ensure Balthazar’s safety.</p><p> </p><p>Gritting his teeth, Vinnie cried out in pain. Shouting and cursing up a storm along the lines of “Fucking shit! Fuck! Damn it all to hell this fucking hurts!” For, his skin was tearing on his back as they fell toward the ground below. Balthazar was still screaming out in fright.</p><p> </p><p>Then, what he wanted finally came about.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota you have wings?!”</p><p> </p><p>Flapping through the air was a pair of large feathery wings. Breathing deeply, trying to catch his breath, Vinnie started to fly upward. He looked over at Balthazar and gave a faint smile. “Sorry for not telling, I don’t use them much.” He winced, his wings were already starting to strain from carrying both himself and Balthazar. Normally, he only ever had his wings out for short distances, such as when he followed after the thief that took Balthazar’s watch.</p><p> </p><p>Or when he was trying to remove the loose feathers that were coming undone due to his stress molting. But at least he could take his time letting his wings out. Now he had to pretty much force them out just so he could prevent them from going splat on the ground.</p><p> </p><p>“You alright?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie felt his body starting to go numb. Vision starting to darken at the edges of his vision. His energy was fading fast, yet he was still far from the roof of the building to get Balthazar to safety. <em>’Come on! Just a little further!’</em> Thought Vinnie as he was almost there, just about there!</p><p> </p><p>Removing his arm from Balthazar’s chest, he went to reach for the roof.</p><p> </p><p>Only for his arm to go slack, and his vision turning dark.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?!” shouted Balthazar as they started to fall. The blonde tightly held onto the now unconscious Incubus as he tried to wake him up. “Dakota! Wake up! Please! We’re going to die!” He tried shaking the man to get Vinnie to wake up. Yet the demon just wouldn’t wake up.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down at the ground, he saw that it was getting closer and closer to them. Tightly shutting his eyes, he buried his face against Vinnie’s chest. <em>’I’m going to die holding the man that I love.’</em> Balthazar thought to himself.</p><p> </p><p>“No you’re not!” shouted a familiar voice.</p><p> </p><p>Opening his eyes, the blonde looked down just as the shadows formed a tendril and shot upward as both Crystal and Blade (both in demon form) shot out of the shadow. Blade managed to catch Balthazar and Vinnie, and landed on the ground.  He didn’t know what was going on, what had happened. How did they know to come? That they were in danger?! What the hell is going on?</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie messaged us. Said that you guys were in danger, from something he called ‘Soulless’?” Crystal said with a frown on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I don’t know what he was talking about till Crystal had a premonition of you guys falling.” Blade calmly said before looking down at Vinnie. “Didn’t think he’d use his wings again. Been a long time since he’s used them like this.” Blade said with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“We don’t have time for this! We need to get Dakota back to his trailer and treat him as quickly as we can!” hissed Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal nodded as she said “He has a point in this. Vinnie has no energy left right now.”</p><p> </p><p>“Though I am kinda curious, what are ‘Soulless?” asked Blade with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“That!” shouted Balthazar as he pointed at the people who have been after him and Vinnie since they got out of the zoo.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh shit.” Crystal said before she held out her hand. A burst of flames shot forth from her hand as a large sword appeared within her grasp. The blade was made of red steel, yet held a golden white sheen to the blade. The guard looked like that of a wolf’s mouth during a howl. Then there was the hilt, it was wrapped in cloth the shade of a red hot blaze.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar had never seen a weapon like that one before.</p><p> </p><p>“Puppy, it’ll take me a bit to try to gather energy to get all of us in the shadows back. It’ll take us a few minutes maybe before I can collect enough.” Blade reached up and removed a charm from his necklace, the charm itself looked like that of a cross with a tiger’s eye stone in the middle. It glowed a bright blue before it changed into a sword. Similar to Crystal’s in design, though was a silvery blue with the guard being none existent.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish are you able to keep Vinnie safe till Blade can use his shadows?” Crystal asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes but what’s wrong with-“</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll explain later, right now Vinnie can’t help us.” Crystal said before swinging her sword at one of the Soulless.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown as he watched the two fighting the growing army. Crystal and Blade would swing their weapons down at the Soulless. Though, it seemed that the Soulless would just either block the attacks with either their own bodies, or weapons. Balthazar just stared in shock and awe. Crystal was much faster than he thought to be possible. Blade on the other hand, while he was fast, but his strength was something else. Slowly, he turned his gaze as he couldn’t help but stare in worry as he held the unconsciousness demon in his arms. Looking down at Vinnie, he couldn’t help but pull the man closer to him as he let out a soft sigh. Worried for Vinnie, wondering, hoping that he would be alright. That he could be helped and as quickly as he could. Looking up, he saw that the army was growing in size, Balthazar gulped a little. Would they be able to escape from this place? Would they even be able to help Vinnie in time? What was wrong with him in the first place?</p><p> </p><p>Gulping, the blonde ran a hand through the thick curls of Vinnie hoping that the man was aware that Balthazar was there for him.</p><p> </p><p>Turning his gaze over toward the fighting that was taking place. Crystal and Blade had been separated, though the blonde could see that Blade was still trying to summon his shadows. Whatever that was supposed to mean. It made him confusing but then again, he wasn’t sure what that even meant. Was it some kind of shadow manipulation? He couldn’t be sure what it was.</p><p> </p><p>Though as he was looking about as he saw more of the Soulless starting to crowd the area. One of them though was notching an arrow into their crossbow. Balthazar stared with wide eyes as he saw that it was a sacred arrow being loaded. “Look out!” shouted Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal turned her gaze so quickly that the blonde almost thought that she’d have whip lash. Her eyes widened before rushing forward, dropping her sword in the process before jumping. The arrow had flown through the air in the hopes of the arrow hitting Blade. Though, the arrow managed to hit a target though. Just wasn’t Blade. For it had managed to hit Crystal in the stomach, and she fell to the ground… unmoving.</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal!” shouted Blade as he stared with wide eyes. Even Balthazar could only stare in shock as he was unsure as to what had just happened. As if everything hadn’t just taken place in front of his very eyes. Blade crouched down and shook at Crystal’s shoulder. As if hoping that she would wake up or something. Even Balthazar couldn’t help but stare with wide eyes, his arms tightened around Vinnie, picturing as if that was Vinnie that had been hit.</p><p> </p><p>A snarl ripped through the silence. The blonde looked over at Blade as he saw the Nekoline jump to his feet as he let out a scream. “You bastards!” He shouted before rushing forward. His sword glowing as it changed from a sword, to a spear as he rushed forward. The blonde couldn’t help but stare in shock at this. Did Blade have the power to change that charm or whatever it was, into any weapon he wanted? He couldn’t be sure, though figured that maybe it was something that he could ask later on.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota, please wake up and help.” Balthazar whispered, even wishing that he had more bullets but they were all back in his trailer. The only other weapon he had was a knife. It wasn’t enough to keep both of them safe at this point. Looking down at the Incubus’s wings, he couldn’t help but reach out and run his fingers over the soft feathers. “Please Vinnie wake up, I’m begging here.”</p><p> </p><p>A scream hit his ears, Balthazar looked up as he saw Blade being thrown aside. He rolled on the ground and groaned a little. Though the blonde didn’t even see any injuries on him. That had to mean something doesn’t it? Breathing deeply, Balthazar was about to get up to grab Crystal’s sword till something caught his eye. Blinking his eyes in confusion, he saw Crystal slowly moving.</p><p> </p><p><em>’What the? But… wasn’t she? Shouldn’t she…?’</em> Balthazar just blinked as he was trying to think on what was going on. There was no way that a demon could have survived a hit from anything that had been blessed. Any attack such as that hitting a demon would burn the demon from the inside out till they were nothing more than ashes in moments.</p><p> </p><p>Though now that he thought about it, he was rather confused as to why she hadn’t been turning to ashes in the moment of the strike. Though he could still see the blood as it had pooled a bit around Crystal. There was so much information that he just couldn’t process. It just seemed as if everything was just happening rather rapidly.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, he saw the woman pushing herself up onto her feet. Eyes aglow in a golden glow as she looked up and lifted her trembling hand. Balthazar was about to ask what was happening, thinking that he was going to get some kind of an answer from the demon in question. Though it seemed that something was off about her. The way her eyes glowed made him think to how Vinnie was when he was in his feeding frenzy.</p><p> </p><p>But something was still off about it.</p><p> </p><p>Blade though groaned as he looked over and blinked in shock as he stared at Crystal with wide eyes. “Puppy?” He whispered with shock.</p><p> </p><p>The Soulless was starting to surround them. Getting closer and closer to the group. Balthazar felt like everything was going to crash on them in that moment. And he knew that this may be the end for the group at this point. Tightly shutting his eyes, he buried his face against Vinnie’s hair as he tried to send some kind of prayer in the hopes that something would save them. “I’m sorry Vinnie.” Whispered Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal what are you doing?” cried out Blade.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked as he looked over and saw Crystal slamming her palm onto the ground. The young man was wondering what was happening until he felt a rumbling coming from under them. He didn’t know what was going on till the ground started to break apart. The cracks were unleashing white flames surrounded by a golden light. Balthazar had never seen flames like that before, it made him wonder what was happening right now.</p><p> </p><p>The flames splashed upon the Soulless as well as everyone else. Balthazar wanted to scream out in pain but he felt nothing. The flames were warm, comforting as they surrounded Balthazar, Vinnie and even Blade. Was this another demon ability that had yet to be categorized? He didn’t know, but wanted to figure this out. When he looked up, he saw that the flames surrounded the Soulless and when the flames died down, they all fell over.</p><p> </p><p>While the small group seemed to have been healed.</p><p> </p><p>“What the?” Balthazar whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal groaned a little before she fainted.</p><p> </p><p>“Puppy!” shouted Blade before he grabbed the woman and lifted her in his arms. “We need to get back to the trailer and now.” Blade called out to Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde could only nod, knowing that this had to be done. They had to get the injured back and treated quickly. But, he also had some questions that needed to be answered.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>this is the longest chapter I've ever written for a fic, but I'm happy. Yes, Vinnie does have wings but he doesn't use them much so that resulted in him losing energy quickly. Now he's out like a light and you can most likely guess the best way to get him to wake up. What did you think? I tried to keep Vinnie in character for this chapter with the joke but I tried as best as I could. Anyway, working on more chapters XD I should mention the chapter and wings were inspired by both nightwish I wish I had an angel, and lucifer</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Heart's Desires</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar no longer allows fears to control him or keep him from what I want.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Stepping out of the shadows, Balthazar and Blade went to lay both Vinnie and Crystal down to be tended too. The blonde noticed that they were in his trailer so that made it easier for them. Carefully, he made his way over toward his bed and helped to lay Vinnie down. Though, it was a little difficult for the blonde to get Vinnie in bed when the Incubus’ wings were still out.</p><p> </p><p>Blade on the other hand, just placed Crystal on Balthazar’s couch.</p><p> </p><p>“Blast it all!” cursed Balthazar as he couldn’t get Vinnie to lay flat.</p><p> </p><p>“Press the base of his neck, his wings will retract back into his back.” Shouted Blade.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked a little at that before he did as instructed. Vinnie’s wings shuddered for a moment before slowly they started to recede into the demon’s flesh and disappeared. Though, the demon hadn’t made any kind of indication that it was painful for him much like how it was when his wings sprouted from his back.</p><p> </p><p>This whole situation was rather strange and bizarre though he knew that was the least of his problems right now.</p><p> </p><p>Carefully, he laid Vinnie back on the bed and made sure that the man was comfortable. Tilting his head, the young man couldn’t help but frown at Vinnie. The man was just… asleep. It looked like he was having a peaceful dream for the most part yet at the same time he couldn’t help but frown in concern. How Vinnie showed no reaction or anything of the sort, it made Balthazar worried that Vinnie wouldn’t wake up any time soon.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing softly, he reached out and ran a hand through the thick curls of the Incubus. “I’m so sorry Dakota, I couldn’t do anything for you. Yet you were able to save me and used up the last of your energy just to do so.” He sighed before tucking the demon in and went to check on Blade and Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal was laying on the couch and Blade was trying to apply gauze on her injury. Though it seemed that the bleeding had stopped so that was good. “Blade, what was that ability Crystal used?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“To be honest, I don’t know.” Blade calmly said as he sighed. Running a trembling hand through his hair before looking over at the blonde. “She’s never used that ability before, first time. I don’t even think she was aware that she even used it.” Balthazar frowned a little at that one. So, she used an ability that she’s never used before, odd.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe it was something that he could look up later on. He was pretty sure that white golden flames wasn’t normal for a Fire Lycan. Though he would have to ask Crystal questions when she woke up and after they would help Vinnie with whatever it was that they would have to do to help him.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a frustrated sigh, the young man made his way over to Blade as he asked “Has she ever shown other abilities that a Fire Lycan don’t normally use?”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t know really. Crystal is the last one so not much is known about what abilities that she can do.” Blade calmly said as he finished patching her up. Lowering the woman’s shirt back over her stomach, Blade pushed himself up as he let out a soft sigh. Covering his face, despite the blood that coated his fingers the demon just let out a shuddering breath. It seemed that this had taken its toll on him.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you okay?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“I almost lost her.” Blade whispered softly before rubbing at his face as he let out a… did he just let out a soft ‘mew’ like a kitten? That was something that he hadn’t thought to be possible but then again, the man was pretty much a giant cat. Letting out another mew, Blade lowered his hands from his face as he looked down at the woman who was sound asleep.</p><p> </p><p>“Has she ever been shot or hit by something blessed before?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“No. I don’t know how she survived with only a flesh wound but I’m grateful either way.” Blade whispered softly before groaning.</p><p> </p><p>That confused the blonde though figured now wasn’t the time to try to get any more answers. “Do you want some coffee or some scotch?” Balthazar offered.</p><p> </p><p>“Scotch sounds good right now.” Mumbled Blade with a sigh.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar nodded his head as he grabbed the glasses and poured the scotch for both Blade as well as himself. The young man made his way over toward the demon and handed him a glass. Blade thanked him as he let out a soft sigh and drained his glass of scotch. The young man couldn’t help but blink in shock at how quickly he drank it but just gave a mental shrug and started to drink at his own glass.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde couldn’t help but frown as he stared at the Nekoline. The man hadn’t returned to his human appearance. Most likely due to stress if he had to guess. Looking around, Balthazar grabbed a couple chairs for both himself, and Blade to sit down. “She’ll be okay.” Balthazar calmly said before leaning back in his seat as he turned his gaze back toward his own room where Vinnie was resting.</p><p> </p><p>“I just want her to wake up.” Blade whispered before letting out a soft sigh. The demon rubbed at his face as he looked over at Balthazar as he asked “Mind if I pour myself another glass?”</p><p> </p><p>“By all means.” Balthazar said with a soft sigh before he looked over at the woman as she slept.</p><p> </p><p>Blade pushed himself up and went to pour himself another glass. “So, how did the title of ‘Soulless’ come about?” asked the Nekoline.</p><p> </p><p>“I think it’s because they had no life within their eyes. Dakota came up with the name so it’s him you may have to ask about that.” Balthazar responded with a soft sigh before he turned his gaze back toward his bedroom. Unsure if the Incubus would even wake up long enough to even tell them anything that had happened while the two men were apart while trying to escape the army.</p><p> </p><p>A soft groan is heard, causing both men to look over at the couch as Crystal’s face scrunched up in pain and discomfort before her eyes opened. She blinked her eyes a couple times before she looked around the room and her gaze fell upon the two men. “Where are we?” She asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Puppy!” Shouted Blade as he wrapped his arms around her. His body trembling, Balthazar figured it was him trying to stop himself from crying. Though he couldn’t really blame him for that since it was obvious that Blade cared greatly for Crystal. Even though she herself was obvious to such a thing. “Thank god you’re okay! I was so worried when you took that hit!” He then pulled himself back and snarled at her. “Why would you do something so stupid?! You put yourself at risk and you could have died!”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re my friend. I wouldn’t let you get hurt if I can help it.” Crystal said with a frown on her face.</p><p> </p><p>The woman started to push herself up from the couch as she rubbed at her face as she groaned a little from the pain. Letting out a deep sigh, the woman looked over at the two men as she asked “So how long was I out for?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not long.” Balthazar replied.</p><p> </p><p>Which was true, honestly she woke up quicker than Vinnie was.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie…</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little at that. The man was still asleep, he was sure of that, he hadn’t heard Vinnie move or make a sound or anything in the quiet of the trailer the whole time. Letting out a soft sigh, the young man ran a hand through his blonde hair as he asked “Crystal, what happened back there in the first place? That arrow was blessed, filled with pure proprieties and yet you had managed to survive.”</p><p> </p><p>“It was?” Crystal asked with wide blinking eyes. How was it that she could smell the blessing on his dagger, as well as his bullets but couldn’t smell it with the arrow?! Rubbing at her face, the Lycan calmly said “I was mostly thinking about trying to save Blade more than anything else. After that, it’s all a blank for me.” She mumbled a little before taking a deep breath. “Last thing I saw was, I dunno, some kind of beam of light filling my vision and that was it.” Crystal said with a shrug before looking over at Blade, then Balthazar and back again.</p><p> </p><p>It seemed that she had been so distracted by everything that was happening that she hadn’t thought about anything. Only to save her friend. Hm, seems that demons weren’t all that different from humans after all. He couldn’t help but lower his gaze as he let out a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“So, what happened before Vinnie contacted us?” asked Crystal as she swung her legs over the edge of the couch as she stared at Balthazar. Even Blade was looking at him.</p><p> </p><p>“I do not know everything that had happened.” Balthazar said with a soft sigh. Rubbing at the back of his neck in a nervous fashion, the young man looked over at the two demons as he sighed once again. “I used my gun, and Dakota used his weighted gloves. By the way, how long has he had those?”</p><p> </p><p>“A while.” Both demons replied.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned a little at that one. Wasn’t much of an answer to say the least, though what was he to do about that anyway? Not like it would give him any kind of real answer to what was going on anyway. “He saw them starting to surround us and we fought them off as best as we could. I don’t know what was going on, but what I do know was that once we could run, he told me to run into the building and make my way to the roof. He stayed out and fought them off.” Balthazar said with a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“Idiot.” Crystal whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Pardon?”</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie is an idiot.”</p><p> </p><p>“What makes you say that?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll tell you after, just keep going with your tale.” Crystal waved at her hand for the blonde to keep going.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar nodded his head before he let out a soft sigh. “As I ran up the stairs, I thought I felt the building shake and tremble. I don’t know what the cause was, figured Dakota would tell me afterwards.” Frowning, he lowered his gaze before adding “But, when he reached me Dakota was saying that he was getting hungry and I didn’t know why or how for that matter. After that, he asked me if I trusted him… I confirmed that I do, and he jumped off the building with me and sprouted wings.” Then, Balthazar narrowed his eyes as he said “He has <em>wings</em> of all things?!”</p><p> </p><p>Blade nodded his head to that. “Yeah, he does. Though he doesn’t use them much anymore due to wanting to hide himself as a normal human.” The Nekoline explained.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal nodded. “Due to that, his wings can cause him discomfort when he’s trying to bring his wings out for use or in your case, since you were both falling he <em>forced</em> his wings out from his back.” Running a hand through her hair, the woman calmly said “Amazed that he didn’t have blood coating his wings cause of that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, though due to lack of use, he can barely support his own weight, let alone anyone else’s.” Blade chimed in before looking over at Crystal before turning back to Balthazar. “Then of course, he used up the last of his energy that he most likely had in order to try to fly you both to safety.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar stared with wide eyes at that. Vinnie used up the last of his strength in order to try to get them both to safety? Would that have even been enough to help them? Now, Vinnie was unconsciousness… because of him. “It’s my fault…” Balthazar whispered, feeling the sting of tears starting to form behind his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“No, it isn’t.” Crystal calmly said before letting out a sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“But, he was already low on energy when he got to the roof. Now he’s out cold! I don’t know what to do! There has to be something that I can do to help him! But… but… but…” Balthazar started to sniffle. Hunching himself forward as he slid his glasses off as he covered his eyes. Unsure as to what he was to say, or even do at this point. Unsure if there was anything that can be done for Vinnie now and it was his fault.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish, just calm down.” Crystal calmly said.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, Vincent just needs to feed and he’ll be good as can be.” Blade calmly said.</p><p> </p><p>“Feed? Feed how?” Balthazar said with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal and Blade both gave him a bland stare. It seemed that he had just said something utterly foolish, now he wished that he could take it back right now. Though, Balthazar just blinked at the two as he was trying to think on what he was to say, or even to do before the two demons beat him to it.</p><p> </p><p>“Did you really just question about Vincent needing to feed Balthazar?” Blade responded blandly.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh…” Balthazar replied.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re a paranormal hunter, you have most likely studied on all the demons, and creatures of the paranormal itself and yet you are seriously questioning about a feeding for an Incubus.” Crystal said with a glare on her face. “You’ve even experienced a form of that for crying out loud!” Balthazar blushed deeply before he raised his hand opening his mouth, to speak, but Crystal just cut him off instead. “He needs energy Cavendish, and the only way to get that is for him to feed off of someone.”</p><p> </p><p>“What about you two? You’ve known him for years so you both should be able to feed him right?” Balthazar asked with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Both demons sighed softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Unfortunately, we can’t.” Crystal said softly while running a hand through her hair, having reverted back into her human form.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s true, both Crystal and I are immune to Vincent’s charm and we don’t have romantic feelings toward him.” Blade responded with a soft sigh before running a hand down his face, feeling exhaustion coming down on him. Both the demons looked up at him, giving him a stare as if speaking to him through their body language.</p><p> </p><p>‘You know what to do.’ Was what they were trying to say.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on puppy, I’ll take you back to your trailer. You need a good rest after everything that had happened tonight.” Blade calmly said as he shifted himself back into his human form. Helping Crystal up onto her feet before he started to walk with her out of the blonde’s trailer. Both of them looked back at Balthazar for a moment. Crystal still looked to be in pain, but she was managing, yet her eyes was telling him what he had to do if he wanted to help Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Blade was as well, he still looked exhausted but he just gave a small nod before he walked with Crystal out of the trailer.</p><p> </p><p>Once the door was shut, Balthazar made his way over to the door and locked it. Thankfully, he had the lock replaced since Crystal broke it who knows how long ago now.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde couldn’t help but sigh softly as he rubbed at his face as he let out a soft groan. Of course Vinnie needed energy. Needed to feed and he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. It just seemed as if it all lead to him needing to feed Vinnie and now that he had no energy to even move. Now that he thought about it, if he was low on energy, how was it that he hadn’t gone into a frenzy? Or was it different when he was using up his energy in a battle rather than just allowing himself to starve?</p><p> </p><p>He had no idea, but knew that it was something that Balthazar would have to ask Vinnie when he woke up.</p><p> </p><p>Slowly, he made his way over to his room to check on Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Still the way he had been left.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing softly, the blonde couldn’t help but make his way over to the bed and pulled up a chair. Sure, he could have just sat on the edge of the bed, but he felt like he had no right to do such a thing. Thinking back, he was trying to recall the meanings of how Vinnie would feed from people. Incubi were demons of lust and love right? Yet he was also immune himself to the powers of the demon’s eyes but, did that still keep him from being able to help him?</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, the blonde reached out and ran his fingers through the thick curls of Vinnie. “I’m so sorry, you did what you did to try to keep me safe and look at what it got you.” Balthazar whispered softly, tears building up within his eyes once again though refused to fall.</p><p> </p><p>Clenching his hands on his pants legs for a brief moment, the blonde knew that he had to do something. That he had to do something in order to help the man that he still feels love towards. Even after everything that had happened, all that Vinnie had done in order to save and keep Balthazar safe? Now he knew that Vinnie’s feelings were genuine. True as what Balthazar felt toward the Incubus.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he leaned himself forward, closing his eyes as he pressed his lips upon Vinnie’s. The blonde felt like this was wrong to do, that kissing Vinnie while he was out cold was wrong. Even though that this was a means to help him. To get him to wake up but it still felt wrong to do so.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>’Please be okay, please wake up…’</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Before he could think of anything more, he thought that he felt Vinnie’s lips moving. Mumbling as Vinnie’s soft breaths seemed to dance across the blonde’s lips. Balthazar thought for that moment that Vinnie was going to wake up. As he was pulling back, Vinnie’s arm snaked its way around the blonde’s neck and pulled him down.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar tried to pull himself back brief as it may, as he stared at the demon before him. His eyes were open and aglow in bright blue and amber. A snarl escaped him for a brief moment before Vinnie blinked his eyes. His eyes cleared in that moment though held an exhausted glint to them. “Cav?” He whispered hoarsely.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota! Thank heavens you’re awake!” Though, Balthazar couldn’t help but notice just how exhausted the demon was still. Now he knew what had to be done, that he had to help the demon and the only way to do so, was to get Vinnie to actually feed.</p><p> </p><p>Properly for the first time in who knows how long.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish what happened? How did we get away?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“That can be a tale for later Vinnie.” Vinnie shuddered at the use of his name. It seemed that the blonde actually using his name was enough to get Vinnie to be rather ‘excited’ from what he could see.</p><p> </p><p>“But… Cavendish…”</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie, you aren’t healthy. You passed out from little fighting and using your wings. I wish for you to be healthy for a change, and I won’t just sit back and watch you hurt yourself more.” Balthazar pointed out with a small smile before leaning closer to Vinnie and kissed him again. Before pulling back as he whispered “I am going to ensure your health remains the way it should be for you my dear.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie seemed to have blushed in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>“But, aren’t you still scared of me?” asked the demon as he frowned at Balthazar. The blonde couldn’t blame him for that, he knew that he had been afraid of the man beforehand. Having allowed himself to be taken by his fears but no more.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Balthazar said “I won’t allow my fears to hold me back from what I want anymore. I want you Vinnie, and I want you to be in tip top shape when it comes to your health.” Before Vinnie could even say anything, Balthazar carefully tugged at the man’s jacket to insinuate on what it was that he wanted. Vinnie nodded his head as he started to tug at Balthazar’s waist coat.</p><p> </p><p>Then gave into his own desires for the first time in who knows how long.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yup, Vinnie finally gets a proper feeding and Balthazar finally allows his heart to lead rather than what his fears dictate.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Morning After</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar wakes up the morning after and both he and Vinnie explain a few things and Balthazar even learns something new about Blade it seems.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar groaned a little as he slowly started to open his eyes. The blonde couldn’t help but frown a little as he turned his gaze over toward the window that would shine slivers of light through his room. Blinking slowly, the young man couldn’t help but stare for a moment as he was trying to recall what had happened. Reaching up, he rubbed at his face as he felt his memories starting to hit him in that moment.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Right, there was the attack, and Vinnie was drained from trying to fight back and fly…’</em> Balthazar thought to himself before he let out another groan. He hadn’t thought that he could be this exhausted before. Even when he was training, he had never been this exhausted. He wasn’t sure on the drain till a soft snoring hit his ears.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down, Balthazar saw Vinnie snuggled up against the blonde. His arm draped over the blonde’s chest and held onto him. As if he was afraid of losing the taller man to some kind of attack or kidnapping scheme. Balthazar couldn’t help but give a soft gaze to Vinnie as he used his only free hand (as the other was all but pinned to his side by Vinnie) and carefully wrapped it around Vinnie to hold him as close as he could.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie mumbled something under his breath, though the blonde couldn’t understand what it was that he was trying to say. His words were far too quiet for the blonde to fully hear or even understand. Though, then again he just wanted to snuggle the curly haired man in his embrace and sleep the world away.</p><p> </p><p>Yawning softly, Balthazar pulled Vinnie even closer and buried his face against the demon’s curly hair and started to drift off to sleep. Yeah, sleep sounded fantastic right about now. All he wanted was to sleep a little longer and hopefully feel a little more energized before bothering to ask Vinnie what it was that they had done before.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Rolling over in bed, Balthazar had felt something was amiss when he started to come around. Blinking his eyes slowly, the young man slowly opened his eyes as he looked over at the side of the bed. His vision was still blurred from sleep so he settled for moving his hand on the side of the bed while trying to find something that was in the bed.</p><p> </p><p>What it was, he couldn’t be sure yet since his mind was still groggy.</p><p> </p><p>He felt nothing in the bed.</p><p> </p><p>Then he remembered who was in bed with him. “Dakota?”</p><p> </p><p>“Over here!” called Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes in confusion before he pushed himself to sit up in bed. He wasn’t sure what was going on right now though, his mind was slowly starting to emerge from the fog of sleep. “What are you doing?” asked the blonde as he reached over the bed to try to find some pants to wear. Or at least his boxers, there had to be something that he could wear before Vinnie walked back into his room.</p><p> </p><p>“You were exhausted so I thought I’d surprise you!” Vinnie declared from the kitchen.</p><p> </p><p>Surprise him with what? He had no idea, though he just wanted to get up from the bed and most likely change the sheets. Once he found his pants, (and his glasses) the blonde managed to slip them on and started to make his way out toward the kitchen after grabbing his house coat to wrap around him. Not wanting to look for another shirt to put on. He already felt irritated having just thrown on pants that he found on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes a couple times, in the hopes of adjusting to the light that shined through the windows. The blinds must have been drawn closed while he was asleep and Vinnie had managed to close them before leaving the bed.</p><p> </p><p>“How’d you sleep?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes a couple more times before turning his gaze over to the kitchen and there was Vinnie. Just finishing up putting some eggs and bacon on a plate for the two of them. He had a big smile on his face as he made his way over toward the blonde and chuckled a little. “You sleep okay? You were so exhausted after what we did last night.” Getting a better look at the demon, he saw that Vinnie was just wearing boxers and his undershirt. Wasn’t a bad view in all honesty.</p><p> </p><p>“Last night?” Balthazar raised an eyebrow before blushing darkly. It started to hit him in that moment. Right, he had been worried about Vinnie’s health due to him not feeding properly in lord knows how long. So, as a means to show that he wasn’t afraid of the shorter man’s nature anymore, and loved him enough to be willing to feed him.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, we went at it a few times till you started to get really exhausted from the energy drain.” Vinnie calmly said with a worried frown on his face. He started to look up at the blonde though gave a smirk. “You wanted to keep going but well, I had to all but pin you to the bed till you fell asleep.” Balthazar blushed like mad at that. Though the blonde at the same time hadn’t felt ashamed over what had happened.</p><p> </p><p>“I was merely looking out for your health. Speaking of, how do you feel?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m still not fully energized but this will help me.” Vinnie said with a bright smile on his face as he chuckled. He then started to pick at the eggs, the demon took a deep breath as he was trying to collect his thoughts about everything. “So, you aren’t going to be afraid of me yeah? Like, I can feed from you once in a while?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar nodded.</p><p> </p><p>“And, you won’t run away on me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Why are you making it sound like I’m some kind of animal?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie chuckled a little before sighing softly. “Sorry, it’s been a while since I’ve dated anyone ya know? After all, the only person that I’ve been with was well, pretty much you.” He calmly said before running a hand through his hair before taking a bite out of his breakfast. “I’m kinda curious about something that’s been bugging me since yesterday.”</p><p> </p><p>“Such as?”</p><p> </p><p>“How did we get away? I remember trying to reach the roof while flying then… nothing.” Vinnie let out a soft sigh. It seemed that he was more confused about it than anything else. Right, Balthazar had told Vinnie that he would explain as to how they were able to get away. As to how they had managed to survive the attack as well as the fall from what had happened from the fall and afterwards.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Balthazar started to explain everything that had happened. From them falling, to Crystal and Blade emerging from the shadows and caught them. To Crystal taking a hit for Blade from what Balthazar assumed was a blessed arrow. Blade losing his cool and attacking out of a rage. Then of course, Crystal somehow regaining consciousness and using some kind of white flames with gold surrounding the pure white blaze.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, she used it again?” Vinnie asked in shock.</p><p> </p><p>“Again?” Balthazar was now very confused. Had Crystal used those flames before? If that was the case, why hadn’t she shown those flames before? Sure, she hadn’t really had a reason to fight thus far till that moment, but how was it that no one had ever mentioned about these abilities in the first place. “What do you mean by that?” asked the blonde, wondering what it could have been.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie nodded his head as he let out a soft sigh. He started to rub the back of his neck as he seemed to struggling to think of the right words. “Well, it started maybe a month after Crystal started living with my family and I.” The Incubus began, causing the young man to stare at Vinnie with confusion. The curly haired man let out a soft sigh as he went on with his tale. “You see, Crystal didn’t trust us right away. It almost seemed as if she was afraid to get close to us.”</p><p> </p><p>The blonde blinked his eyes in confusion on that one. How was it that Crystal seemed to not have trusted Vinnie in the first place? She almost seemed to be glued to his hip at this point though, maybe there was something more to her past that no one else could ever understand in the long run.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t remember everything at the time since it was so long ago.” Vinnie mumbled with a soft sigh before going on with his tale. “We were attacked by other demons around my home. Other Incubi believe it or not, they didn’t think she belonged there so started to attack.” The shorter man said before rubbing at his chin a little. “I tried to help but got hurt in the long run. Crystal got knocked down and was bleeding. I think they slashed her with their claws or had a knife.”</p><p> </p><p>“Children with a knife?” Balthazar raised a brow at that one.</p><p> </p><p>“What? Demons are different from humans.”</p><p> </p><p>“True.”</p><p> </p><p>“Anyway, I tried to get back up though, before I could Crystal managed to summon the flames and the flames attacked the other kids.” Vinnie mumbled before frowning in deep thought. The demon shuddered, most likely from the memory it seemed. “Those flames hurt like hell. It almost felt like the flames were trying to melt my skin but I was fine afterwards. I was in better shape than the other kids.” Vinnie added as he took another bite out of his breakfast.</p><p> </p><p>“Strange, the flames hadn’t harmed us at all. I think I was healed from the scrapes that I got from when we landed.” Balthazar calmly said, before the demon stared at him with wide eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie set his plate down as he stared at Balthazar with wide eyes. He grabbed the blonde by his shoulders as he said “You were hit by the flames? Yet… you’re not hurt?” He frowned as something seemed to have hit him. The demon then started to check himself over, as if trying to search for something that had been there. What it was though, Balthazar had no idea.</p><p> </p><p>“No bruises…” He whispered in shock.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry?” Now Balthazar was confused.</p><p> </p><p>“I was bruised a bit while running through the apartment trying to get to the roof. Since I passed out from lack of energy, I had no way of healing quickly. After feeding, that would have taken me a few hours to remove the bruises.” Vinnie whispered in more confusion. Shaking his head, he looked up in confusion as he wondered what it was that was happening right now. “That kind of ability, I know Fire Lycans never have or even used before. That shouldn’t be possible.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hm… I’ll look up on Fire Lycan abilities later on. I have a few questions for you myself.” Balthazar calmly said with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright, go ahead.” Vinnie said softly as he took a drink of his coffee.</p><p> </p><p>“First of all, you were going to explain about the tingling from contact because you were worried that I was enamored by your eyes.” Balthazar calmly asked before taking a bite out of his own breakfast.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, the curly haired man looked over at Balthazar as if trying to think of the right words to try to explain the topic. It seemed though, that Vinnie hadn’t expected the blonde to even bother asking about such a thing. Though, the taller man couldn’t really blame him for that since it was something that was only brought up who knows how long ago now. It almost seemed like some kind of life time ago at this point. Though really, most likely under two months.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at the back of his head, Vinnie started to explain. “See, Incubi as you know can find love much like any other demon. We love one, and only one as you know right?” Balthazar nodded his head. “Okay, it’s like this. In our case, I loved you, as well as your past lives. Each life I have been with, I have also felt the warm tingling through skin to skin contact.” So, Vinnie could feel it as well? Was that how it worked? Though he wanted to keep learning more about Vinnie, as well as his race. Wanting to be a part of his realm so to speak.</p><p> </p><p>He took a deep breath as he went on with his explanation. “See, we only do that when we have found ‘the one’ in some weird way. Like, the only one we could or would want to ever love? Kinda like a soul mate or something.” Vinnie chuckled a little. Balthazar blushed a little at the term. Was that how it worked for demons or just Incubi? He had no idea, but kept listening. “So, when I felt it from the first life, I knew I found mine at long last. Though… when I lost him, I felt lost and alone.” He sighed softly before looking up at the blonde next to him. “But then I saw that you were reincarnated. I at first thought I wouldn’t felt it again but I did.”</p><p> </p><p>So, it was a matter of the soul? Was that how this worked?</p><p> </p><p>“Now, as for what else the tingling entails.” Vinnie whispered softly. Reaching over and grabbed a hold of Balthazar’s hand, causing the blonde to look down at their joined hands, before looking back up at Vinnie in confusion. “It’s warm right? The tingling?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar nodded his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, if you felt a cold tingling, it’s normally if someone who seems to have formed strong affections for you. Say if you met someone that you came in contact with before you met me, you wouldn’t have noticed.” Okay, that makes sense since Vinnie was the only one that he had felt this from. “But, say if you had come into contact with me, then met that same person again then you’d feel a cold tingling flowing through you. Because your body was rejecting that person’s affection or it could even be some kind of warning.”</p><p> </p><p>Warning?</p><p> </p><p>“Sometimes people get obsessed with people. It’s been like that since the dawn of time after all.” Vinnie chuckled a little before sipping more at his coffee.</p><p> </p><p>Why did a warning sound familiar? Or even someone being obsessed with him? He couldn’t help but feel the room spin for a moment as if he was about to have another one of his visions from his past lives. Yet, the only thing he saw in his mind’s eye was a pair of eyes, eyes that looked so much like his own staring back at him. Then blocked the memory from appearing to him in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Cav you okay?” asked Vinnie as he reached out and placed a hand on the blonde’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>Just feeling that tingling sensation from the demon next to him, made Balthazar feel relaxed and comforted in some way. He had no idea how that was, but figured maybe it was some kind of demon thing. That demons could easily comfort their significant other without any issue about such a thing.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Balthazar nodded his head as he looked over at the demon with a small smile. “I am, yes. I think a vision was trying to surface upon me but something blocked it.” He gave a small shrug before taking another bite of his breakfast. “I’m rather curious, when did you get up to even start cooking in the first place?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I woke up a while ago and saw how exhausted you were still so I messaged Crystal if she could drop off some of those drinks she created for people who are energy drained.” Vinnie said with a chuckle. He rubbed at the back of his head as he went on. “See, the drinks were something that she created long ago when I started having those frenzy’s of mine, so she started to make those drinks to help people who was attacked by me.”</p><p> </p><p>So that’s why she created that concoction? Interesting. “The draw back though, it seems that if someone over uses it that it would make the body over dependent on it.” Vinnie explained. Wait, so it was almost like those energy drinks that he would see people drink? Or like how people would use drugs and they couldn’t stop because they felt a dependence on them? Hm, that did actually make sense.</p><p> </p><p>“So, what is the safest way to consume it, without the dependency?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Safest thing to do, maybe once a month at best. Otherwise, should you try to feed me.” Balthazar blushed at that, knowing what Vinnie was trying to do at this point and he hated it, but couldn’t be mad at him for the subject at the same time. “We’d have to let you regain your energy naturally so it wouldn’t cause any damage or dependency on the mixture.” Vinnie explained with a small smile on his face. Maybe hoping that Balthazar was able to understand it.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, he could understand it. Balthazar wanted Vinnie to be healthy again, but he knew that the shorter man wouldn’t put the blonde’s health at risk or even create a dependency for the man on those drinks that Crystal created.</p><p> </p><p>Finishing up his breakfast, Balthazar looked over at Vinnie as he asked “Now, about your wings. Why do you not use them?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie froze for a moment before letting out a soft sigh. He looked over at the blonde as a frown started to mare his face. It seemed that Balthazar had hit a sore spot for the demon. Just as he was about to take back his question, to tell Vinnie that he didn’t have to explain anything but it seemed that the shorter man would speak about it anyway.</p><p> </p><p>“I wanted to be human I guess.”</p><p> </p><p>Wait what?</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar could only stare at the demon in shock. Did he hear him right? Had the demon really said that he <em>wanted</em> to be human? But why would he want such a thing in the first place? It just didn’t make sense to the blonde. In fact, it just seemed to baffle him all the more about the whole thing. “But why?” was all he could ask.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie bit his lower lip. It seemed that this was something that he hadn’t really thought through in order to tell Balthazar. Taking a deep breath, the shorter man ran a hand through his hair. The curls of course would just bounce back in place, yet Balthazar saw him then gripped at his curls and tugged at them a little. It seemed that the Incubus was trying to tug the explanation out of himself and that made the blonde want to reach out to get Vinnie to release his hold on himself.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, before he could even do that, Vinnie let out a soft sigh and released his hair before looking down at his lap.</p><p> </p><p>“I figured, if I was human that I’d be better for you.” Vinnie whispered softly. Only to smile, yet the smile was rather… sad. “After all, demons don’t deserve to love a human. So, humans don’t have wings so I stopped using them.” Rubbing at his neck, the demon frowned a little more as he looked over at Balthazar for a brief moment before looking away once again. As if he felt nothing but guilt and shame over what he was admitting. “So, I only ever had my wings brought out maybe twice a year to shed the loose feathers, or when I was stress molting.”</p><p> </p><p>“Stress molting?” Balthazar asked softly.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding, Vinnie explained. “Yeah, see when you kept getting in danger it was kinda stressing me out thinking ‘what if I fail next time’ and so on. Then of course with the way you’ve acted in the past with those dreams of yours and so on. It just… stressed me out to the point that I was losing feathers.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry.” Balthazar whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“No, it’s not your fault! Not like you knew about this right? After all, I was trying to be a human so I thought we could be friends this time around. If it turned out for us to be lovers then cool! If not, then well I was happy with being friends.” The demon said with a big grin on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“No, I’m sorry that you felt the need, to be something that you are not.” The blonde corrected, causing Vinnie to blink his eyes in confusion. Balthazar knew that this was something that Vinnie needed to hear. That what he had done was wrong to a degree. Narrowing his eyes at him, to make sure that Vinnie knew that there was no room for him to argue over what the blonde was going to say right now. “Vinnie.” He began, causing the demon to blush a little at the use of his name. “Love is about accepting people for who they are. Such as their personalities, their faults, their flaws, their perfections, everything.”</p><p> </p><p>“Cav…” Vinnie whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“That includes you being a demon.” Balthazar concluded while crossing his arms. The blonde knew that he hadn’t reacted the best at first when it came to discovering what Vinnie was. He will admit that, well, the blonde had reacted rather poorly when he learned the truth. Though that was due to how he was raised mostly, and for that he still felt guilt over it all but…</p><p> </p><p>He wanted to make the life he and Vinnie could have better to repair the damage that he had caused.</p><p> </p><p>When the blonde had looked over at the demon, it seemed that Vinnie was staring at him with wide eyes. Eyes seeming to sparkle with tears as he stared at the man next to him. Balthazar almost thought that maybe he had said something that he shouldn’t have. He was about to speak, to tell Vinnie that he was sorry if he said something that had upset him in some way, only for the shorter man to wrap his arms around the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?” Balthazar blinked, unsure as to what he was to do right now. Unsure if he was supposed to hug him or not. Wasn’t sure if he should pat the man’s head or what.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, the blonde carefully wrapped his arms around Vinnie and tangled his fingers through the thick curls of the man’s hair who resided in his arms. Just wanting to comfort him in some way, even though he himself, wasn’t very good at something such as this. But, he couldn’t help but sigh softly as he soon pressed his cheek against the top of Vinnie’s curly hair and a soft smile graced his lips. <em>’His hair is so soft…’</em></p><p> </p><p>“Thanks Balthazar.” Vinnie said with a smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde felt his heart beating quickly within his chest. “Aw, you like it when I say your name huh?” Vinnie said with a chuckle, just nuzzling the man’s chest. Balthazar just blushed darkly before looking away.</p><p> </p><p>“Perhaps.” Balthazar admitted softly.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just giggled before pulling back and wiping at his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, I’m rather curious about something.” The blonde said softly, gaining the demon’s attention.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve read that Incubi normally have leathery bat-like wings. Yet, yours are feathery.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, yeah the leather wings are for pretty much all Incubi-“ Vinnie started.</p><p> </p><p>“Yet you have feathers.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, yeah but only one family has wings like mine. My one dad had feather wings while the other had leather wings. Now, because I have my one dad’s blood flowing through me that I inherited his wings.” Vinnie explained before scratching at his cheek as he chuckled a little. “So, an example of it going strong, say if I were to have a kid or kids, they’d have my wings rather than the leathery wings that most of my kind have.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blushed darker at the thought of children. Sure, he knew that it was possible due to Vinnie’s nature itself. But at the mere mention of children? Even if they are not even trying for children at the moment, it was still frightening.</p><p> </p><p>Would he even be a good parent in the long run?</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, Balthazar took a deep breath before looking down at the man before him. “One more thing about your wings.” And, he wanted to change the topic about children at the moment. It was still far too soon for children to be brought up again since they had, maybe just established their relationship. “Why did you decide to use your wings while we were being chased? Was that the only time you’ve used your wings since we met?”</p><p> </p><p>“Twice.” Vinnie said with a soft sigh before gripping his pant legs. Seemed he was nervous about revealing anything about this. Turning himself away from the blonde, the demon took a deep breath as if trying to calm his nerves. It seemed that this was bothering him in some way, though Balthazar wanted to know and this was going to be a bother for him.</p><p> </p><p>Not knowing… it was driving him mad.</p><p> </p><p>But what the devil did he mean by ‘twice’?</p><p> </p><p>“See, when your watch was stolen and we split up I used my wings to fly up to the rooftops to find him. Found him not long after and used my wings to land on the ground again.” He looked up at Balthazar for a moment with a frown marring his face. “It did strain me a little but not enough to cause some harm since I still had enough energy to recover a little so it wouldn’t show my strain physically.” Vinnie calmly explained before leaning forward as his hands dangled between his knees.</p><p> </p><p>It almost seemed that this conversation itself was draining the demon of his own energy this time. More so than using his abilities/powers. Frowning, Balthazar was about to reach out to pull Vinnie into an embrace but the demon shook his head. “During the attack, when we were on the roof…” Vinnie let out a soft sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. “I had a brief moment, where I thought about my nightmare.”</p><p> </p><p>“Your nightmare… the one I woke you up from? Because you were screaming…?” Balthazar asked in a whisper, as if speaking any louder would break the trance that they found themselves in.</p><p> </p><p>The demon nodded his head as he let out a shuddering breath. “In my dream, you appeared before me and your past lives. You seemed fine at first but then…” A choked up sob escaped him. Now Balthazar was regretting his question and his desire to learn more about the reason for the wings. “Then you just shriveled up! Blood pouring out of your empty eye sockets and mouth! You asked me why I allowed you to die!”</p><p> </p><p>Gripping his head, tears pooling down his cheeks as he started to shake like a leaf. Tightly gripping his hair as the tears just seemed to keep flowing down his cheeks like rivers that never had an end. Letting out a few choked up gasps, Vinnie went on with his tale. “I was afraid, that the nightmare was coming true. That I had allowed you to die so I knew that I had to do something in order to save you!” Lifting his head, the demon stared at the blonde man next to him as he soon grabbed a hold of Balthazar’s upper arms. “I didn’t care what happened to me, no matter if I would lose the remaining of my energy just to get you to safety then so be it! I had to ensure your safety above mine!”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar could only stare at the man with wide eyed shock. Vinnie dreamt that the man before him died? Shriveled up into a husk and demanding to know why Vinnie failed him? That was something that he hadn’t thought to be possible, that Vinnie would have a nightmare as such.</p><p> </p><p>Without thinking, the blonde wrapped his arms around Vinnie and held him as close as he could. Vinnie seemed to have been in shocked confusion before he looked up and stared at Balthazar with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“You didn’t fail me, you haven’t failed me thus far. I highly doubt that you would ever allow yourself to fail me. You know that I would always care about you, as it has even been proven in each life. You have tried to save my past lives, the ones that you were near, you have tried to save.” Balthazar whispered softly, tightening his hold over the demon in his arms as he ran his fingers through the demon’s hair. Vinnie held onto Balthazar while trembling in his arms. “Right now, you’ve saved my life in a few ways, either from that creep or from something that was either going to kill or harm me.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie peeked up at Balthazar with a frown on his face. “You have risked your own health to save me so, I know you’d do whatever it took to keep me safe and that’s all that matters to me. I love you either way.” Balthazar said before kissing his demon’s forehead.</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks Cavendish.”</p><p> </p><p>“No problem Dakota.” Balthazar said with a chuckle, a small smile on his face as he stared at the demon in his arms.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie grinned as he wiped at his tears. The tears finally seeming to have ended, for that Balthazar was ended. Giving the demon a soft smile, the blonde started to lean in forward to give his demon a simple kiss. Even Vinnie was leaning into the blonde… just as they were mere millimeters apart, a sound cut through the silence.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Ah! Not again! Blade! Stop it! Bad!”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar and Vinnie both looked at each other for a moment before running out of the trailer. Just as they opened the door, they saw Crystal running away from Blade. Blade looked like… well his face was blushed and his eyes glazed over. It almost seemed as if he was in some sort of trance. Crystal ended up getting pinned to the ground for a moment. “But puppy I wove you!” shouted Blade with a giggle.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal managed to kick him off of her and ran off again. Her body seemed to be trembling for a moment before managing to run off even quicker.</p><p> </p><p>“What the devil is happening?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah shit, not again.” Vinnie groaned before face palming.</p><p> </p><p>“Again?”</p><p> </p><p>“Blade is high as a kite.”</p><p> </p><p>“High? He has weed in his possession?”</p><p> </p><p>“Actually, not weed but close enough. He must have come in contact with catnip.”</p><p> </p><p>“Seriously? Catnip of all things can-“</p><p> </p><p>“He’s a Nekoline, they’re pretty much giant cats and Blade has no restraint on his feelings and he tries to snuggle Crystal or kiss her. Never given him a chance to get further than that but yeah, we’ll have to stop him now.” Vinnie said before getting down the stairs of the trailer and ran after Blade.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked a couple times. Yeah, his life was complicated but at the moment he wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Chuckling, he ran after Vinnie in the hopes of trying to catch Blade and maybe sober him up.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yeah, friend mentioned about the catnip thing and I'm just like... yes... also, I lost some hours at work (won't go into detail) so I'm back down to 20 hours again so I have some free time to write more again so hoping you like the update.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. To Learn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar learns just how much Vinnie can eat, as well as what Crystal is... partly anyway.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yawning softly, Balthazar opened his eyes as he felt consciousness starting to tug at his mind. Blinking slowly, the young man looked around his room only for his gaze to fall at his side. Smiling softly, the blonde reached over as best as he could to run his fingers through Vinnie’s curls. They had been sharing a bed a lot lately, at least since they had first consummated their relationship.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie snuggled up against him, his grip on him not tight to the point that it was uncomfortable, but enough to keep Balthazar alert to know that the demon was still there. The tingling of course, was ever persistent yet, was rather comforting while he slept.</p><p> </p><p>The demon just let out a soft sigh as he snuggled himself closer to Balthazar. Nuzzling his side, tightening his hold on the man in his arms as if afraid to let him go. Balthazar couldn’t help but feel concerned for Vinnie. The young man felt like the reason for Vinnie’s clinginess was due to the loss of the blonde’s past lives. Made the blonde wonder just how much pain the demon was hiding from him, just to make sure that Balthazar wouldn’t worry about such a thing.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, his turquoise coloured eyes soften for a moment before kissing Vinnie’s forehead. The shorter man moaned a little and nuzzled the taller man a little more. “Sleep…” Mumbled the curly haired man.</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie, it’s time for you to wake up and relinquish your hold over me.” Balthazar said with a chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>“Noooooo.” Vinnie whined a little.</p><p> </p><p>“It is time to get up, it’s morning. If you let go of me, I’ll make you some pancakes.” Balthazar bribed.</p><p> </p><p>“…”</p><p> </p><p>“…?”</p><p> </p><p>“… Okay.” Vinnie responded before releasing his hold over Balthazar and rolled over in bed. He almost looked like he was pouting, which, the blonde thought to be rather adorable in some way. “I want a lot of pancakes.” The demon mumbled sleepily.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I’ll make you a dozen if it’ll make you feel better.”</p><p> </p><p>“Two dozen.”</p><p> </p><p>“Can you even eat that much?” asked Balthazar as he pushed himself out of bed and went to grab his house coat.</p><p> </p><p>“Mhm…” was a sleepy reply.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar rolled his eyes, but smiled a little before making his way to the kitchen and started to get the batter ready for pancakes. Though, the young man couldn’t help but gaze over at the door of his bedroom now and again. He couldn’t hear Vinnie at the moment though then again, the shorter man seemed to have had a decent sleep for who knows how long.</p><p> </p><p>Even though they were together, Vinnie still kept a few things to himself. Though, Balthazar felt like it was due to all of the past trauma that he had gone through. Most likely from losing the blonde’s past lives.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man started to make breakfast. It had taken a while, making as many pancakes as Vinnie wanted. He had a lot of things to do today, one of them was wanting to learn about how Crystal had survived the attack. That arrow, it had indeed been blessed and it was not any kind of miracle that she had survived. Maybe pure luck? He didn’t know, but hoped to learn something about such a thing.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply in the hopes of calming himself down as he finished pouring the batter into the pan. Spending the next while finishing the pancakes. He wasn’t sure if Vinnie would even eat all of this, or if he could even stomach all of this if he dared himself to even eat. Taking a deep breath, the young man set the large plate aside for Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, just as he had set his own plate on the counter, he felt something snaking themselves around his waist, and something pressing against his back. “Dakota.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm.” Vinnie hummed sleepily.</p><p> </p><p>“You awake?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah…”</p><p> </p><p>“Hungry?”</p><p> </p><p>“Very…”</p><p> </p><p>“Here are your pancakes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you Cav.” Vinnie responded softly before yawning loudly. Yeah, he was very tired still, but he at least was moving a bit more. Though he couldn’t help but wonder if he was at a hundred percent yet. Sure, Balthazar had no problem feeding Vinnie, but knew that he still had to be careful. Vinnie had told him that if Balthazar could feed him a bit a day, with large feedings maybe a couple times to once a month it should help keep him healthy.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, didn’t explain why he was still so tired.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota, why aren’t you awake?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m up…” Yawned Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“No, I mean why you are so tired.”</p><p> </p><p>“We were up pretty late last night having a lot of fun fucking.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Vinnie!”</em> hissed Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“What? It’s true. We were up <em>very</em> late, so it’s kinda like being sleepy from being full.” Vinnie responded before rubbing at his face. “Anyway, thanks for the food, this will help wake me up!” The demon said with a smile before taking his mountain of pancakes and made his way over to the couch to eat happily.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just rolled his eyes before grabbing his own plate and made his way over to the couch. He poured the syrup onto his pancakes and happily started to eat. “So, what do you plan to do today?” asked Vinnie with a smile on his face before taking the syrup and started to stuff his face.</p><p> </p><p>Turning his gaze over to his demon, Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little at that. He hadn’t told Vinnie his plan to chat with Crystal it seems. Not that he could really blame the man for that one, since it was something that he had been thinking about for the last few days. Only thing was, he was trying to find a means to understand something that should be impossible.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, to be honest I’m still rather baffled by how Crystal had survived that sacred arrow that had hit her. If anything, she shouldn’t be here at all. Yet she had managed to survive that, as well as the seal that I had placed on my trailer door once before.” Balthazar explained before looking over at Vinnie who was now just blinking innocently at the blonde. It seemed that Vinnie didn’t fully understand what was going on or at the very least, what Balthazar wanted to do. “You see, some of the abilities that Crystal has demonstrated thus far doesn’t make sense for a demon to have. So, I would love to do some research.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just blinked his eyes a couple times before swallowing his mouthful of food. “You can try, but I don’t know if Crystal will really tell you much of anything. Heck, there are things that she hadn’t even told me about when it comes to her heritage.” Taking another bite, the demon frowned a little as he shrugged a little. “Sometimes I wonder if she is even a pure Fire Lycan.”</p><p> </p><p>“What makes you believe that?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Dunno, just an odd feeling I have sometimes but never bothered to bring it up with her. Figured she’d tell me when she was ready. Just never came up afterwards.” Vinnie said before going back to his pancakes.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar could only frown a little as he stared at Vinnie. So even Vinnie had an odd feeling when it came to his friend, but he wasn’t sure what it was. Tilting his head a little, the young man just gave a mental shrug before he went to eating his breakfast. After this he was going to make his way over to Crystal’s trailer to talk to her.</p><p> </p><p>Anything to help with his curiosity.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Balthazar double checked his pockets to ensure that he had everything that he would need for his questioning of Crystal. Though he still had a sinking feeling in his stomach that Crystal wouldn’t tell him anything. After all, she hadn’t even told Vinnie anything about it, there was a slim chance of her telling Blade but he couldn’t be sure if Blade would even share what he himself knew about the Fire Lycan.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up at the trailer, the young man frowned a little before taking a deep breath in the hopes of calming himself. Hoping and praying that Crystal wasn’t going to hurt him just for asking. Knowing that the woman had a temper on her. Reaching up, he knocked on her trailer door in the hopes that she was still there.</p><p> </p><p>A mumbling was heard from behind the door. So Crystal was most likely in the trailer still after all. Makes sense, since Brick had decided to give everyone a break since they were ahead of schedule so, that gave everyone some free time to themselves to do as they pleased.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, the trailer door opened causing Balthazar to blink. Crystal was in her pajamas, making him wonder if she was still asleep till he started knocking on her door. Was he screwed right now? Would the demon before him use her powers on him to throw him into a wall for waking her? Dear lord he didn’t want that to happen!</p><p> </p><p>The woman before him just blinked her eyes a couple times before saying “So what do you want right now?” She yawned against the back of her hand while staring at the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>“I have some questions for you about your abilities.” Balthazar answered honestly.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine, fine whatever. Let’s talk inside and I’ll think about telling you or not.” Crystal mumbled before walking back inside her trailer. Balthazar blinked a couple times before following the woman into her trailer. Seeing that her trailer was dark, and filled with nothing but darkness. Making the blonde wonder if he was coming in on a bad time… Was something wrong for her to keep her room so dark right now?</p><p> </p><p>Soon, Crystal took a seat on her couch as she made a gesture for the man to grab a chair or something. Balthazar did as told and grabbed one of the comfy arm chairs that was sitting in the corner. It was rather comfortable and he couldn’t help but wiggle a bit in the chair. It was… just so plush and comfortable. Something that he hadn’t thought to be possible for a chair to be this comfortable.</p><p> </p><p>“So, what do you want to know Cavendish?” asked Crystal with a frown on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Um… may I ask why it’s so dark in here right now?”</p><p> </p><p>“Just having an overload of emotions right now. It happens now and again, sometimes it’s just build up from sensing so many emotions and with you around it’s like sensing a lot of emotions at once for some reason.” Crystal calmly said before letting a soft sigh as she ran a hand through her hair. Taking a deep breath, the young woman calmly asked “So, what do you want to ask about my abilities?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes a couple times, trying to think of a way to ask his questions though he wasn’t sure if he could or not. Scratching at his cheek, the blonde said “Well, a few things I’ve noticed that you can do that doesn’t seem possible for a Fire Lycan.”</p><p> </p><p>“Such as?” asked Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>“Well for one, they can’t smell purity.”</p><p> </p><p>“So? That’s just one thing.” Crystal calmly said as she leaned back in her seat.</p><p> </p><p>“Then what about the fact that you have healing abilities? Demons don’t have that kind of power. Why would they when they already have an accelerated healing rate?” Balthazar pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>“I… uh… hm…”</p><p> </p><p>“Then of course, there was the time I placed a seal on my door to prevent demons from coming into my trailer. You didn’t scream, cry out, nothing. It was as if you weren’t effected by the seal at all.”</p><p> </p><p>“You had a seal on the door?” Crystal asked in shock.</p><p> </p><p>That just told him that she hadn’t really known about it. Crystal could have been hurt and she wouldn’t have known the reason for such a thing. That made him all the more worried about her safety wondering if she was either just unaware or had some kind of immunity to pure items to a degree or something much more.</p><p> </p><p>“Then there is the fact that you are an empath. Demons have never shown such an ability before or have never been documented for anything.” Balthazar pointed out with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal let out a soft hum as she must be thinking about everything that Balthazar had said thus far. It seemed that she had never thought of it before. Maybe, that was to be expected. These were abilities that she’s had her entire life, or at least since she had known about her abilities when they surfaced. So to her, that was normal. But for paranormal hunters like Balthazar this was something that was very strange, unheard of and it just made him all the more confused about such details being anything but fact.</p><p> </p><p>The woman ran a hand through her hair as she let out a deep sigh. Balthazar wanted to reach out to comfort her, but if she was having some kind of overload right now and needed this darkness just to help her with all of these overwhelming emotions from everyone around her, then maybe any kind of physical contact despite it being a comforting one, would most likely just hurt her all the more.</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal, I’m not going to report any of my findings to anyone back to my boss or anyone in P.I.G. I just want to understand why you have these abilities, and how it’s even possible for a demon to have these abilities. It’s unheard of and I just want to help you, as well as myself to understand such an ordeal.” Balthazar calmly said, hoping that Crystal knew that he wasn’t going to report this. This was for his own personal use. For him to learn and understand more about demons and others of her kind. Despite her being the last, it still made him want to understand.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m half-Fire Lycan.” Crystal suddenly said, causing Balthazar to blink.</p><p> </p><p>“Pardon?” he asked, unsure if he had just heard her right.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal let out a soft sigh as she looked out at the window. Her gaze was… well somber maybe? Sad? He didn’t know, but at the same time if she was only half-Fire Lycan, then what was the other half? That made no sense to him. That made him a little confused about the whole thing. “I don’t think I heard you right Crystal, but did you say that you are only half-Fire Lycan? You aren’t a pure one?”</p><p> </p><p>Shaking her head, Crystal calmly said “I’ve been told bits and pieces about my mother. I don’t know her name, who she was as a person, or what she was.” Balthazar frowned a little as he wrote down some notes. May as well start writing down everything that he could, so he could make sure that he would have everything he needed for when he would start to study this.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked up at Crystal as he asked “What did your father say?” That would be something that could lead him to an idea as to what her mother was. Maybe her mother was a human or something? Though then again, there was no known record of a human having the child of a demon. It made him all the more confused about such a possibility but he wrote that down to ensure that it could be possible.</p><p> </p><p>Turning her gaze onto the blonde, the woman calmly said “He just said that I look like her. That I’m the last of the ‘light’ that fills his life since my mom disappeared back to where she came from. I knew that she wasn’t dead as he hadn’t joined her.” Balthazar just frowned all the more before writing that down as well. Maybe there was something more about that phrase? Maybe. Though he couldn’t be sure as to what it was.</p><p> </p><p>“When I asked my father about my mother he would just smile as he say ‘She was a pure being for sure my Light. She was the love of my life and still is. You have her heart and her gifts as well as my powers and abilities. The weapon you will possess when you’re older will reflect your heritage.’”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned. Was ‘Light’ just a term of endearment from a father to his only daughter? That had the blonde rather curious as he went and wrote down more of his notes. There had to be something more that he was missing on the little bit of information that he had thus far. “What are the abilities that you have?” asked Balthazar. Wanting to ensure that he had all of the abilities that she had written down. That would also give him a hint of what to do.</p><p> </p><p>“Healing.”</p><p> </p><p>“Mhm.”</p><p> </p><p>“Empath abilities.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, I recall.”</p><p> </p><p>“Smelling and sensing purity like blessed weapons.”</p><p> </p><p>Yes, he definitely recalled that for the most part, though he had wondered why she hadn’t smelled the purity of the blessing on that arrow that had hit her. It made him wonder if she had either been… nah, he knew that she had to have been distracted. Why else wouldn’t she have smelled such a thing in the first place?</p><p> </p><p>“Then I can sense the cause of injury of someone or even the emotions that had caused those scars.” Right, she had been right about the cause of the scars that lined his body once he saw the final death of his past lives. So that would make sense, though he couldn’t help but feel like something was missing here.</p><p> </p><p>“What about that weapon of yours? I haven’t really seen you use it but there is definitely something off about it. I’ve never seen a weapon like it before.” Asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, yeah it was created when I came of age. My father said that my weapon, when it would show itself to me would reflect my heritage. Whatever that is, I don’t know but I know that it is filled with both the powers of a Fire Lycan, from my father and light which I think has to do with my mother.” Crystal calmly explained with a shrug of her shoulders. Staring at Balthazar she added “No demon can touch my sword unless they want to be burned. I remember Blade tried to pick it up for me when it flew out of my hands during training. He had really bad burns on his hands for a few weeks but since he didn’t hold it long, it didn’t cause any permanent damage.”</p><p> </p><p>Interesting. So she even had a weapon that was filled with light. Yet, no one else could even use it? No one could pick it up or was it just demons that couldn’t have any kind of physical contact? It just didn’t make sense to him, though then again this was something that made no sense. It was as if Crystal herself, was a new breed of demons that no one could ever learned about if it wasn’t for him wanting to do research on it.</p><p> </p><p>Though, he also wasn’t going to share that information for her own safety. If anyone ever learned about what she was, there was no way of knowing if they would hunt her down to experiment on her or to kill her because she was something that no one could understand. Then of course, there seems to be her odd immunity to anything pure or blessed for that matter.</p><p> </p><p>Writing more notes down, the young man looked up at her as he said “Is there anything else? I have seen you use white flames before so that was something that I don’t understand either.” Crystal seemed confused about that one. “It seems that you’ve used those flames twice. Dakota told me the one time you did, when both of you were children. Used it and it hurt everyone but you. Then when we were surrounded by Soulless. You used it, and they passed out and we were healed.”</p><p> </p><p>Crystal frowned all the more at that one. It seemed that even she hadn’t known about that ability. Strange, it was something that he’ll have to look into later on as well.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down at his notes, Balthazar figured that he has enough to go on for the notes. Though he knew that this was only a chance of him figuring this out in the first place. Taking a deep breath, the young man looked up at Crystal as he calmly said “Don’t worry, should I find anything I’ll alert you. I promise, you will be the first person to know about it. I won’t tell anyone at my job, I will not allow you to be hunted or harmed.”</p><p> </p><p>Crystal nodded her head. “Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>“No problem Crystal, now I must ensure that Vinnie hasn’t gone into a food coma from all those pancakes.”</p><p> </p><p>“He wanted two dozen didn’t he?” asked Crystal with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, he’ll want more food later.”</p><p> </p><p>How?!</p><p> </p><p>That’s just impossible!!! What the actual hell did he fall in love with? A food waste disposal?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yeah, Crystal isn't pure Fire Lycan but she doesn't know the other half. Her mother disappeared when she was a baby for a reason that will be explained in a few chapters I believe. I hope you enjoy this.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Training</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar decides that it's time to train his demon's wings, but has to pull a rather dirty tactic to ensure that Vinnie does so.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yawning softly, Balthazar sipped at his tea as he was going through a book on wings. He knew that Vinnie’s wings were rather out of shape. Unable to support weight, or even the demon’s weight for that matter. It just seemed that it was causing the demon some trouble since he the last time he had used his wings was when Vinnie had tried to fly the two up to a rooftop and that resulted in the demon in question passing out from using the last of his energy.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, he wasn’t sure if this would even work in the first place. With Vinnie being a demon, it made the young man wonder what kind of training would work for the demon in question. Frowning, he ran a hand through his short blonde locks before letting out a deep sigh. So much research for both Vinnie’s wings, as well as trying to learn what Crystal was.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the young man looked over a few more notes that he had seen in his book about wings. Taking another sip of his tea as he saw that a few things in the book was something that they could try. Tilting his head a little, the young man closed his book before looking over at his couch.</p><p> </p><p>There was Vinnie, just lying on the couch snoozing a little as Peaches snuggles up on his stomach. The bunny had taken a real shine to the demon since Vinnie had been staying in his trailer more often. Though, Balthazar knew that today, they would have to go out and about to make sure that they had some fresh air. Then, of course some exercise.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota.” Called Balthazar as he stared at his demon.</p><p> </p><p>“Mmm?” Vinnie hummed softly as he opened his eyes and looked over at the blonde from his spot on the couch. “Yeah?” He said with a yawn escaping him before reaching up and petting Peaches’ fur. The bunny lifted her head for a moment, wriggled her nose before laying her head back onto the demon’s belly.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m thinking we need to do some training for you.” Balthazar calmly said before closing his book and made his way over to the demon. Vinnie blinked his eyes a couple times as he just seemed to stare at Balthazar with a frown on his face. Rolling his eyes, the blonde calmly said “Your wings needs some kind of strength training. After all, you couldn’t even fly up while carrying me! Let alone your own weight Dakota.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t wanna though. I don’t even have a need for my wings-“</p><p> </p><p>“You tried to carry me and passed out. I’m pretty sure you need your wings.” Balthazar pointed out with a bland stare.</p><p> </p><p>“Fiiiiine. But I want to train you in hand to hand combat.” Vinnie pointed out before pushing himself to sit up, being mindful of Peaches as he held onto the bunny in his arms before swinging his legs over the edge of the couch. Now staring at Balthazar, the demon calmly said “You seem to focus more on your gun than anything else. So, I think you need to learn some self-defense.”</p><p> </p><p>“I do not need to learn to fight as such.” Balthazar said before crossing his arms.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just gave him a blank stare before raising an eyebrow. “Then, I don’t need to strengthen my wings.” He was about to lay back down, till Balthazar groaned.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine. But your training first.” Balthazar responded while crossing his arms across his chest.</p><p> </p><p>The shorter man just grinned before nodding in agreement. Pushing himself up onto his feet, he made his way over to the pen that was set up for Peaches and set the bunny in. Vinnie even went to the fridge and grabbed a nice big carrot for the soft bunny and left it for her. “There you go!” He said with a chuckle before looking over at Balthazar as he said “I’m ready when you are. But first, you’ll need to change into something… uh… cooler I guess?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked down at his clothes for a brief moment. Vinnie had a point. His clothes weren’t suited for training purposes. Looking up at the demon, the young man calmly said “If that’s the case, then so shall you Dakota. Because if I need to change into some more appropriate clothes, then so do you.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked as he looked down at his own clothes before looking back up at the blonde for a brief moment. Then of course, looking back at his own clothes before letting out a soft sigh. “Fine, I gotta go make calls anyway to arrange something. Can’t have people seeing my wings right?” Vinnie laughed before making his way over to the table, grabbed his phone and started to make his way out of the trailer.</p><p> </p><p>Leaving Balthazar alone.</p><p> </p><p>If he was honest, he was worried about getting Vinnie to train his wings. Worried that it may cause some stress for him, but at the same time that Vinnie would need another feeding afterwards as there was no telling what it would do. Even though he was still willing when needed, Vinnie would most likely reject the offer and say that he’s fine. That it wasn’t best for Balthazar’s health in the long run.</p><p> </p><p>Running a hand through his hair, the young man made his way toward his room and went to look for something to wear. He just hoped though that helping Vinnie with his wings would help him in the end. Because, if Vinnie didn’t use his wings, wouldn’t it have terrible repercussions on his health later on? He didn’t know, but the blonde didn’t want to wait to find out on that.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“I can’t believe that you managed to rent out an entire dojo.” Balthazar said as he looked up at the building. There were no windows, which he was thankful for but, that was rather weird. Looking over, he saw that Crystal and Blade had also decided to join, seemed as if they also wanted to train as well. Though, how they were going to train well, Balthazar had no idea as to how that would be.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man looked back at the building as he asked “How did you make sure that there were no windows for anyone to peek through?”</p><p> </p><p>“Easy! There are some people who don’t like to be spied on while training.” Vinnie replied with a grin on his face. That made a little bit of sense, something to do with performance anxiety or something along those lines. “So, I had asked around and did some research, if it got to it, I could put cardboard on the windows if we couldn’t find a dojo without windows.” The shorter man explained with a chuckle as he started to head inside.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes a little at that one.</p><p> </p><p>“Sometimes Blade and I would want to train if we’re feeling fidgety. Sometimes Vinnie joins us, since he’s best at hand to hand while Blade and I do know how to fight like that, but we prefer weapons.” Crystal said with a laugh.</p><p> </p><p>Blade chuckled. “Yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>Amazing that Crystal was still talking to him after the other day. It had been maybe a month and a half since Blade had been intoxicated by catnip. Even having been rather affectionate toward Crystal but, it seemed that she let it go. For the time being, though he had a feeling that at some point it may go too far.</p><p> </p><p>Shifting his bag on his shoulders, he started to make his way inside the building. Crystal and Blade followed suit, and everyone went to their respected rooms to change into. Snow was still lining the ground though, it wasn’t as cold as it was before, but still he wasn’t going to take chances of getting sick again. There was no telling what would happen if he got sick.</p><p> </p><p>Looking around, the young man saw that the dojo was a nice looking room. Very spacious for sure, there was plenty of room for the four of them to do their training without disturbing the other. Nodding his head, the young man made his way to the change room and quickly got out of his attire and changed into green shorts and a lime green t-shirt. To go with his attire, was a pair of black running shoes. He had been slacking on his own training lately, so he knew that he had to do this to help Vinnie even if it meant that he had to ‘learn’ how to do hand to hand combat.</p><p> </p><p>Which, he believed was a waste of his time.</p><p> </p><p>Walking out of the room, and into the dojo, he saw that Crystal was wearing a red t-shirt and black shorts. Blade wore a pair of dark blue jogging pants with black stripes on the side and a black muscle shirt.</p><p> </p><p>Where was Vinnie?</p><p> </p><p>“Yo! Cavendish you ready for this?” called out Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar turned his gaze and saw that Vinnie was wearing his track suit, or at least he mostly was. The only thing that was missing was the jacket as he held that in his hands. Vinnie just grinned all the more as he stared at the blonde as he asked “So, what are we doing first?” He then tilted his head in curiosity, though Balthazar was trying hard not to stare. “Uh… Balthazar?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>He had no idea why he was staring like that. Maybe, Vinnie did have some effect on him, but at the same time it was just his own emotions and desires playing in effect? He had no idea, but knew that if anything came about this, Balthazar couldn’t allow himself to think about anything of the sort. He had to be professional and think about Vinnie’s health more than his own desires.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man calmly said “We should work on your wing strength. After all, if it wasn’t for the fact that you hadn’t used your wings for so long, you wouldn’t have passed out while carrying me. You could have gotten hurt-“</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish, it isn’t a big-“</p><p> </p><p>“You <em>fainted</em> Dakota, you passed out before getting us to safety! You could have died if it wasn’t for Crystal and Blade jumping out to help us!” Vinnie flinched a little at that. It seemed that he was still feeling a form of guilt over what had happened back then. Though Balthazar knew that he needed to push this that if he didn’t that Vinnie would end up feeling more guilt later on. “If it happens again, what if we aren’t caught? What if we both fall to our deaths? I would most likely die since I’m human, you’re a demon Dakota. You would have a better chance at surviving the fall than I would.” He frowned a little, his eyes giving a concerned light as he said “Just please trust me?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie looked up at Balthazar for a moment. Trying to think of a means to point out that it wouldn’t happen again. That nothing like that would ever happen again.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, the sinking of his shoulders told Balthazar that Vinnie knew that the blonde was right.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine.” He whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar gave a small smile. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Crystal and Blade were just staring with a smile. It seemed that they had decided to watch the show that Balthazar and Vinnie were putting on. The blonde narrowed his eyes as he said “Do you two have nothing better to do?”</p><p> </p><p>“We do, but watching you two bicker like a married couple is just so cute.” Crystal said with a big smile on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, we don’t get a show much like this anymore.” Blade said with a chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just rolled his eyes before looking over at Vinnie as he said “So, you ready to train your wings?” Vinnie just sighed softly before nodding his head. “Good, bring your wings out please.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie frowned a little before letting out a soft sigh before he closed his eyes. Balthazar wondered if it would be painful for Vinnie this time around, remembering how it seemed to have hurt him last time when he was bringing his wings out. Though, maybe that was due to how dire the situation was and that Vinnie needed his wings quickly. Now, the demon could take his time to bring out his wings without the risk of it hurting him.</p><p> </p><p>Hm, now that he thought about such a thing, when his wings had been brought out last time his clothes didn’t tear. It was as if his clothes themselves already had the slits in them for his wings, though he hadn’t ever seen them in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Making his way over to the demon, he looked over at his back and could faintly see the rippling. It almost seemed as if his wings were struggling to come out. Balthazar was about to reach out to see if there was something that he could do. Yet, before he could do anything, Vinnie let out a groan of pain as his wings sprung out and smacked the blonde in the face. Knocking him over.</p><p> </p><p>“Ack!” Balthazar yelped out in shock as he fell backward on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish!” shouted Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar groaned a little as he looked up. Vinnie’s wings were spread out wide and gave weak flaps as if panicked and worried for the blonde’s safety. “Are you alright?!” he cried out in panic.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, Balthazar looked over at the man’s wings. They were black as the night, speckled in white that made Balthazar think of the starry sky to be honest. Seeing Vinnie’s wings, was actually a real treat for the man. He hadn’t expected to love the demon’s feathers, especially after learning that those feathers were actually from Vinnie of all people…</p><p> </p><p>Pushing himself up, Balthazar gave Vinnie a small smile as he calmly said “I am fine, don’t worry about it. I wasn’t expecting your wings to spring out like that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, they do that because I haven’t used them very often if at all.” Vinnie rubbed the back of his head. His wings lowered a little, almost seeming to relax and that made the blonde curious. Did his wings reflect the man’s mood? What he was feeling in that moment when he wasn’t using them? Or was it just them acting of their own free will?</p><p> </p><p>So many possibilities but he had no idea as to how to narrow it down.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked over at the demon’s wings again, just seeming to be enchanted by them in some way. It was something that he hadn’t thought to be possible. Unless this was some other ability that Vinnie possessed that he hadn’t brought up?</p><p> </p><p>“Uh… Cav? You okay?” came Vinnie’s voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, yes sorry. Start by flapping your wings. It should help with building up strength and once we’re sure that you can handle it try hovering. Just so we know that you won’t be stressing yourself from over using your wings and I don’t think I can feed you for a bit.” Balthazar replied as he stared at Vinnie. Hoping that his demon would be able to handle the task. Not wanting to overwhelm him with the exercise.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie took a few deep breaths and flapped his wings a few times. Starting off just a sliver of movement before slowly increasing the movement as time went on. Balthazar just couldn’t help but stare at the sight. Even though he had only seen the man use those wings once since learning of such a thing, it just made him seemed so enthralled by their beauty.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes a couple times, the young man couldn’t help but slowly make his way over toward the demon. Vinnie was gazing up at his wings as he was trying to keep himself focused on the flapping of his wings. Even his wings started to sag a little. Already feeling the strain from them not being used for so long.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you alright?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Y-Yeah.” Stammered Vinnie, he kept going.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar knew that this was really starting to strain Vinnie. He wanted to tell Vinnie to stop, wanted to tell the demon that it was okay to take breaks so it wouldn’t cause him any problems further down the road. Though, it seemed that he couldn’t bring himself to do so.</p><p> </p><p>Looking back over at the demon’s wings, he couldn’t help but move himself closer. Vinnie’s wings still flapping slowly, gently. Making him think of the wings of a dove in some way. Tilting his head a little, the young man reached out and slowly ran his fingers along the feathers. They were still as soft as they were the last time he felt them. He wanted to hold Vinnie and just run his fingers through the feathery wings for hours if he could.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, what he failed to account for was that Vinnie could feel his wings being pet this time.</p><p> </p><p>A loud yelp was heard, and Vinnie’s wings slapped against Balthazar again. Though unlike last time, it didn’t send him flying to the floor. It mostly just felt like a pillow hitting him in the face this time. Rubbing at his face, the blonde looked over at Vinnie as the demon turned around and stared at him with wide eyes. “Were you <em>petting</em> my wings?!” Vinnie squeaked out, his face darkening into a deep blush.</p><p> </p><p>“Um… yes?” Balthazar wasn’t going to lie to the demon. Especially since Crystal was nearby and would most likely tell Vinnie the truth. That was something that he wasn’t going to allow to happen. Taking a deep breath, the young man gulped a little feeling nervous over the whole thing. “I couldn’t seem to have stop myself. They just looked so inviting, much like the last time I pet them-“</p><p> </p><p><em>”Last time?!”</em> Vinnie yelped out in shock, his face getting redder. It seemed that Balthazar had failed to notify the man about the last time he had pet the demon’s wings. Mostly due to him being unconscious during the whole ordeal.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping, the young man looked away, or at least anywhere but Vinnie. “Well, I was worried about you while you were unconscious so, while Crystal and Blade were fighting the Soulless I was petting your wings.” The young man slowly moved his gaze over to Vinnie who was now blushing like mad. His wings had stopped flapping, and were standing out as if worried about being touched again. The demon gulped a little before he looked away.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie took a deep breath as he lowered his wings a little. As if trying to get himself to calm down over the whole ordeal. What was the big issue with touching his wings? Was there something wrong with that? Or was it that Vinnie didn’t like anyone touching his wings? It just made no sense to him, though he was about to ask before Vinnie just cut in. “Ya know what, maybe I don’t need to learn to fly! I won’t have to do flying for a while anyway right? Let’s just put my wings back and-“</p><p> </p><p>“Do you want me to die Vinnie?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie flinched before he slowly turned his now wide eyes onto Balthazar, his skin growing pale. It seemed that he hadn’t expected the blonde to say such a thing. He knew that it was a cruel thing to do, a cruel thing to even say but he knew that if he had to do this, in order to get Vinnie’s strength up again he would do whatever it took to do so.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, Balthazar calmly said “Remember, you said that you would never allow me to get hurt. This, could end up getting me killed Dakota. Would you want that to happen to me?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just kept staring at him with wide eyed stare. “I… I don’t want… I wouldn’t…” It seemed that the demon was at a loss for words. Balthazar knew that he was starting to regret his choice of words at this point before he reached out and wrapped his arms around the demon. Yeah, it was a cruel thing to say, but with a chance of a repeat of what happened before?</p><p> </p><p>The memory of Vinnie trying to get them to safety. Trying to fly them to the next rooftop only to pass out due to him not having the strength to fly them to safety. How they were falling through the air and just awaiting the ground to finish them both off.</p><p> </p><p>Yes it was very cruel, especially after all that the demon had gone through with the past lives of Balthazar dying on him.</p><p> </p><p>But it had to be done for Vinnie to see the reason for the training.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie wrapped his arms tightly around the blonde before letting out a shuddering breath. “I don’t want to lose you again.” The demon whispered softly. His body trembling a little, Balthazar rubbed his back in the hopes of calming Vinnie down. He would need to say something to cheer him up. Turning his gaze over at the wings, the young man saw that even they were trembling from the shock and stress over what the blonde had said.</p><p> </p><p>“You know…” Balthazar began, causing Vinnie to frown as he peeked up at the man before him. Sometimes, Vinnie was far too cute for words to describe. “I’ve always wanted to know what it was like to fly with wings. Since I can’t due to lack of wings… and you have wings… maybe we could fly around in the air as a date but, only if you are able to train your wings to hold up not just you but maybe… me?” Balthazar hoped and prayed that the demon would see the logic in this. Even hoping that maybe it would motivate Vinnie to train his wings enough to support the two of them.</p><p> </p><p>There was no sound coming from the demon for a bit. It made the blonde wonder what was going on through Vinnie’s head in that moment. For, this was very strange to see that Vinnie was so quiet in the first place. Then, something moving in the corner of his vision caused him to turn his head to take a look. The demon’s wings were slowly moving, a few feathers falling out. Most likely due to the stress of what the man had said to Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Before the blonde could even speak, he got a good look at Vinnie’s wings and saw that the way they had moved, they created a shape of a heart. Balthazar couldn’t help but stare in shocked awe as he hadn’t expected the demon’s wings to do that.</p><p> </p><p>Did his wings really reflect what the demon was thinking/feeling? He had no idea, but he wanted to see more of this.</p><p> </p><p>“Um… Dakota?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p> </p><p>“Your wings…”</p><p> </p><p>“What about them?”</p><p> </p><p>“They’re shaped like a heart.”</p><p> </p><p>“Aw man.” Vinnie groaned a little before covering his face. His face was a deep red before letting out a groan.</p><p> </p><p>“Sooooo would you want to take me flying should you get enough strength to handle me?” Balthazar asked softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah… so, want me to work on hovering next then?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yup.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar released his hold on Vinnie and backed up. Wanting to ensure that he had the space in order to try hovering. The young man could only tilt his head as he saw Vinnie flapping his wings once again. This time his flapping was getting quicker, maybe stronger than before? He wasn’t sure, but he could faintly see Vinnie slowly starting to lift from the ground.</p><p> </p><p>Now that he wasn’t forcing himself to fly he can easily just ease himself into it. Vinnie wasn’t completely off of the floor though. Balthazar could still see Vinnie’s toes touching the ground, but he was still slowly lifting off of the ground. Frowning a little, the young man was about to make his way over toward his demon before Vinnie started to raise from the ground more.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ve gotten off of the ground Vinnie!” Balthazar cheered, throwing his arms into the air with a big smile on his face. Vinnie had a smile that nearly matched the blonde’s. Honestly, he hadn’t expected to have gotten off of the ground so easily, but at the same time he had hoped that Vinnie would. This was a great first step for the demon. Though he just wasn’t sure if it would be enough for the man.</p><p> </p><p>Though, he knew that it would still be a long journey for the demon to be able to fully use his wings.</p><p> </p><p>Sweat was already starting to form on Vinnie’s forehead before he soon landed back on his feet. Breathing deeply as he was hunched forward, trying to catch his breath. It seemed that it had taken a good deal of his energy from the training, but he was at least still standing. Not anywhere near to passing out this time around.</p><p> </p><p>“You going to be okay?” asked Balthazar as he made his way over toward the exhausted demon.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, nothing a small feeding won’t cure later.” Vinnie said with a smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blushed madly before rolling his eyes. “You will get fed later, now you were going to teach me hand to hand combat weren’t you? I’m sure that I’ll be fine in such an art.” The blonde said while crossing his arms. There was no way that he would need to work on much of anything for the most part. Though he wondered if there would even be anything that he’d be able to learn when it came to fighting.</p><p> </p><p>The demon chuckled a little before calmly saying “Just try going into your stance and I’ll see if you are in a proper fighting stance.” Balthazar for some reason didn’t like the look that Vinnie was giving him in that moment. Though he had noticed that his wings were still flapping slightly. Was he still trying to work on strengthening his wings even while training him?</p><p> </p><p>Rolling his eyes, Balthazar got into a stance, hoping that it would prove to Vinnie that he was capable of fighting anyone without an issue.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie tilted his head to the side before frowning. Rolling his eyes, the demon made his way over to Balthazar and used his foot to nudge the blonde’s feet further apart. “This will help keep your balance so you aren’t knocked over. Though, there is one other thing that you aren’t doing right.” Vinnie said with a frown as he moved behind Balthazar and placed his hands on his waist.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blushed a little at the contact. Though thought that maybe the man was just trying to help the blonde with his stance so he wouldn’t fall over. Soon, Vinnie started to rub his thumb under the blonde’s shirt, making Balthazar squeak out in shock and surprise. He had no idea what was going on, or what he was trying to do. Eyes widening a little, the blood was rushing to his cheeks as he was trying to calm himself down.</p><p> </p><p>Chuckling, the demon blew some air against the back of the blonde’s ear. Balthazar yelped out in shock and tried to keep himself under control. Vinnie was doing this as some kind of revenge, or just wanting to tease him in some fashion.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping, he was about to speak till Vinnie moved his hands away as he soon found himself standing in front of Balthazar. “Try to punch me.” He said with a grin on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Balthazar blinks a couple times as if he was trying to process what it was that the demon had just said to him. Was he hearing right? Did the demon really want the blonde to punch him? That made no sense to him. “I do not believe that I heard you right.”</p><p> </p><p>“Punch me. I want to see how well you can fight so, I can’t do that if you won’t punch me. Don’t worry though!” Vinnie grinned brightly before adding “You can’t hurt me, or even hit me for that matter.” Balthazar could only blink in confusion before letting out a small shrug. So, maybe he wouldn’t have an issue with punching after all?</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he pulled his fist back and threw a punch at the demon before him.</p><p> </p><p>Only for Vinnie to dodge slightly to the left.</p><p> </p><p>Another punch.</p><p> </p><p>Dodged to the right.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar narrowed his eyes a little at that. He had hoped to at least get another hit in, but not a single hit in. Throwing in one more punch, Balthazar saw that Vinnie wasn’t moving. So that had to mean that he wasn’t going to dodge this time around. Though, Vinnie sighed softly and raised his hand so quick that Balthazar almost hadn’t even seen the movement till the hand was in front of his face. The demon had easily caught the human’s fist in his hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, Balthazar.” A shudder went through the blonde at the mention of his first name. “You need a lot of training it seems. Your fighting stance is wrong. You aren’t using a lot of strength in your hits. It’d be amazing if you’re even able to hurt anyone.” Vinnie turned his gaze to the blonde’s fist before rubbing his thumb against the man’s wrist. Balthazar blushed all the more at seeing this.</p><p> </p><p>The demon smirked a little as he leaned in closer as he whispered “Personally, I’d rather not have you fight but until you can properly fight this can be an interesting turn of events huh?” Balthazar blushed a little more, not sure that his face could get any redder in the first place. Gulping a bit, Balthazar was about to say something else but tried to throw another punch instead.</p><p> </p><p>It was also caught just as easily. Vinnie just grinned before turning his head and placed a tender kiss on Balthazar’s wrist. “Mmm… yeah, this will be interesting.” Vinnie said with a chuckle before releasing his hold over the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Without thinking, Balthazar tried throwing more punches. Hoping to get at least one hit in, though he was unable to get a hit in. Vinnie merely dodged any and all hits. He was quick, his wings even still flapping as they moved. Though, at the same time he swore that Vinnie’s wings seemed to flutter as if he was excited perhaps.</p><p> </p><p>Throwing one last punch, Balthazar yelped as he found himself falling forward and groaned as he landed on the floor. Rolling over onto his back, he was about to get up till his demon managed to pin him to the ground and grinned down at him. “Look at what I caught! A tasty morsel for me!” He said with glee, only to chuckle and lean in close. “Good thing I don’t plan to hurt ya, because if I was an enemy, you would have been hurt.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just stared with wide eyes. Vinnie did have a point in that. If it was an enemy, then the blonde would have been hurt. Or worse, killed. Gulping a little, the young man slowly nodded his head before letting out a soft sigh. “What should I do…?” Vinnie said with a thoughtful frown on his face. Only to grin as he leaned forward and kissed him.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde couldn’t help but kiss back.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh come on you two, get a room why don’t you!” Crystal called out.</p><p> </p><p>“Do… do we have time?” Vinnie asked as he pulled back from the kiss.</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie!” Balthazar shouted before shoving the demon off. Just as he was about to get up, a yelp was heard. Both hunter and demon looked over as Blade had managed to knock Crystal’s sword out of her hand. Now that he thought about it, how did Crystal get her sword back in the first place? He was sure that it had been left behind during the one fight.</p><p> </p><p>The young man blinked as he looked down as he saw the sword skid to his feet. “I’ll get it.” Balthazar said as he reached down to get the sword.</p><p> </p><p><em>”No wait! Don’t touch it!”</em> shouted the three demons.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked as he held the sword in his hands. Was something wrong with him touching the sword? Sure he recalled Crystal saying that demons can’t touch her sword other than her, but why were they concerned about him touching it?</p><p> </p><p>“Cav! Are you okay?!” Vinnie cried out in shock and fear as he grabbed the blonde’s shoulders. The young man dropped the sword, it clattered onto the floor. The Incubus was checking the blonde’s hand to make sure that it hadn’t been burned or singed. “Wait… you’re not hurt?”</p><p> </p><p>“Does the sword hurt humans?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“We don’t know, we never tested it… unless the power faded?” Vinnie frowned a little as he looked down at the sword. He bent forward and poked at the sword. Only to cry out in pain as he held his finger in his mouth to help with the burning sensation.</p><p> </p><p>So, Crystal’s sword really could hurt demons. Interesting, but why was that?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>have you noticed that I've started having Balthazar call Vinnie 'his' demon? heehee, also there is a reason why Vinnie reacted the way he did when Balthazar touched Vinnie's wings. It will be explained in the next chapter I think, I hope you like this chapter and the laughs. ^-^</p>
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<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Information Gathering and Reveal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar decides to take his free time to try to learn about Crystal's heritage, and what he discovers shocks him.</p>
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    <p>Balthazar sighed softly as he carried the pile of books back to his trailer. It had been a few months of training and he had decided to give both himself and Vinnie some time off to rest. Vinnie’s training had been going rather well. He can at least hover longer, and could even handle carrying Balthazar longer. Though at the moment, he knew that the demon would need his rest so he wouldn’t overwhelm his wings to the point that he couldn’t use them at all.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he made it to his trailer and set the books aside. Today, he had decided to do some research on Crystal’s heritage. Having asked work to send him some books in the hopes of ‘learning about the creature that was after Vinnie’. They were starting to get a little impatient with his findings.</p><p> </p><p>Or, lack thereof.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing softly, the young man set his books down. Having also gone to the book store to buy books on paranormal creatures. Can’t be too careful when it comes to research. Looking over at the cage, he saw Peaches just snuggling herself under a blanket. It had gotten a bit warmer outside now that the snow is melting but, it seemed that Peaches was still getting a little cold.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the young man moved over to his room and pulled out the books that his boss had sent him. Thankful that they had been able to send a lot of information for him to go through, if he was going to help Crystal discover her other heritage, then he would need to help her discover what more she could do. After all, those white flames of hers were confusing.</p><p> </p><p>What did those flames even do? As a child, Crystal’s flames hurt people… then the flames hadn’t hurt them but had actually healed them but had knocked out the Soulless. It was strange, it was as if that ability was a double edge sword of some kind.</p><p> </p><p>Once he had all of his books at his desk, the young man made his way over to Peaches and lifted her out of her cage and sat down with her on his lap. The bunny used her front paws to pad at the blonde’s lap before making herself comfortable. A slight shudder went through the bunny, making the blonde frown a little in concern.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over, he saw a one of Vinnie’s shirts near his desk. Most likely something that he had left behind the last time he was over. He grabbed it, the fabric still felt warm to him. Blushing a little, the young man set the shirt on top of Peaches. Hoping that would help warm her up a bit.</p><p> </p><p>The bunny nestled under the shirt and just curled up on his lap. Smiling down at the little ball of fluff, Balthazar couldn’t help but pet her as he reached up to the large pile of books on his desk and pulled off the first book from the pile before he started to read the book over.</p><p> </p><p>It was a book on Fire Lycans, even though the book itself was old due to the race having been believed to have been wiped out, maybe if he could learn about those flames from her known race that could give him a lead wouldn’t it?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Fire Lycans,</em>
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  <em>Fire Lycans are demons that can control fire as the name stands. They are able to summon weapons that are formed/created when they are of age. The age differs on different Lycans and tend to reflect the heritage of the child in question. Much like other demons, their weapons are formed, and linked to the demon in question. Their abilities differ from different forms of flames. Such as the regular orange flames, to blue, to red but no one has ever been able to see one that can harness all the abilities of the flames that a Lycan can possess.</em>
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  <em>One thing that is known about Fire Lycans, despite their rough, violent and fiery behavior, they are rather protective over those they care about. They will do whatever it takes to protect those they have either befriended, or have grown feelings for. Turning into what could be best described as some kind of feral behavior.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>It is said, that all Lycans have been wiped out due to hunters making their way into the demon realm and wiped them out. As Lycans of any element are a danger to humans. They are monstrous and only care about the thrill of the hunt and kill. Lycans of any kind, are not as kind as you would assume, the moment you are within their sights you are as good as dead.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned a little at that one. Even though Crystal was friendly, she still had a temper much like the book had said, she wasn’t a blood thirsty killer. Though at the same time he had no idea how much of this was even true in the first place. As, Crystal hadn’t had any kind of tendencies that would make him want to fear for his life. Sure, she’s attacked her friends but not enough to hurt them. She hadn’t even tried to hurt him though, has threatened him but that was it. Then of course, it hadn’t mentioned anything about white flames.</p><p> </p><p>Odd.</p><p> </p><p>Shrugging to himself, Balthazar looked down at the bunny on his lap. She was just sleeping, a slight wiggle of her nose here and there but that’s it.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, he closed the book on that one. Reached up and grabbed another book, thinking that maybe he could find another creature that he could read upon? There had to be something that he could look up on. Anything!</p><p> </p><p>Opening his new book, Balthazar looked over at the notes.</p><p> </p><p>Werewolf?</p><p> </p><p>No.</p><p> </p><p>Vampire?</p><p> </p><p>No.</p><p> </p><p>Siren?</p><p> </p><p>No, she doesn’t like to sing in front of people and plus they have nothing to do with flames nor does she have the power of enchanting people with well, anything.</p><p> </p><p>Then of course, he hadn’t seen that they can use healing abilities or even empathic abilities. He couldn’t help but frown a little at that one. He started to go through more of the paranormal creatures that were maybe close to what it was that could be close to the abilities that Crystal had, but he couldn’t find anything that would be any kind of indication to what Crystal was.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing softly, he leaned back in his seat as he looked down at Peaches as he said “What do you think Peaches? Think there is even a way to get any kind of information for Crystal’s heritage?”</p><p> </p><p>Peaches sleepily lifted her head, wriggled her nose before lowering her head once again.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, Balthazar just pet his bunny once again before looking back at the books. He couldn’t help but frown a little as he stared at the books. There was so much that he had to go through, yet there was nothing that he could go by right now. There had to be something that he was missing. So much that he couldn’t think of, yet at the same time, he wasn’t sure what that missing piece of information was.</p><p> </p><p>What could Crystal be along with her Fire Lycan heritage? He couldn’t help but frown a little more before rubbing at his temples. Unsure if he would even find anything, but he had to keep trying.</p><p> </p><p>Turning to another book, he opened it up and frowned a little. It was a book on Incubi.</p><p> </p><p>Looking around, Balthazar slowly opened the book and hunched himself over as he started to read.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Incubi.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Incubi are demons that feed off of the lustful energy of their targets. They tend to fly around while searching for their targets. While their wings are the only thing that identifies them as anything other than human, it is also their most sensitive feature. A simple touch is enough to send them into a drive that would make them want to feed off of the person who is brave enough to touch their wings.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>While they are lustful creatures, their abilities are more suited to feed from anyone who dares come into their close proximity. Such as staring into their eyes, they are infatuated immediately. Being close to an Incubi, allows the person to feel enamored to the demon.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>The demon can choose on feeding from their intended target or not. But a simple touch of their wings, will make the Incubi want nothing more than to feed from the one that has their attention.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>So was that why Vinnie was acting the way he did that time? Because his wings had been touched? (Which he thought to be weird since he didn’t really do much other than simple teasing) But, it most likely hadn’t affected him the first time because the demon was unconsciousness. There was nothing that could have been done, but if this was the case then why didn’t Vinnie say something about that? For his wings to have caused such a reaction, you’d think that it would be the one thing that the Incubus would have warned him about.</p><p> </p><p><em>’But then again his reaction was rather alarming. But rather interesting thing for later.’</em> thought Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>He was going to set that book aside for later. Right now he had some more research to get done about the abilities that Crystal possessed.</p><p> </p><p>Going over his list again, he couldn’t help but frown a little. There was just something off about this, though he just couldn’t really be sure as to what it is.</p><p> </p><p>Looking at the books that lined his desk, Balthazar frowned a little as he was trying to think on which one would just call out to him. Hm, Fairy maybe? They were part of the paranormal so maybe that could be what it is? He couldn’t be sure, though he knew that he had to at least check.</p><p> </p><p>Pulling out the book, he was going over the information on Fairies. Hoping to get an idea as to what was going on with this one.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Fairy,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Fairies, or better known as Fae, is the creator of the language that all the paranormal races use. They tend to stay in forests, wanting to use the dense trees as shelter from any potential dangers to their own safety. They are best known for their use of nature as well as their dream walking to give people peaceful dreams. Though, one thing that they are also best known for, is their ability to feel emotions of others.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>That sounds like empath abilities, maybe Crystal is part fairy?</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>They will react to the emotions that they feel from those around them and not just reflect such feelings, but try to help those emotions should they be negative. The fairy race are peaceful, and do not prefer bloodshed. They never leave the forest, and prefer to stay with their own kind.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Nothing about healing or immunity to blessed weapons. So, maybe that was a maybe? Or perhaps there was just no record of a fairy leaving the forest to be with a Fire Lycan? So many possibilities with that one but he had no idea as to what it was. Sighing softly, the young man set the book aside for his maybe pile.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, he looked at the pile of books, hoping to find something else that would call out to him. Though, only a few creatures in and he was already feeling overwhelmed.</p><p> </p><p>“Firebird? Maybe like a phoenix?” Balthazar said to himself before picking up that book. Frowning a little, he started to read, hoping to maybe find something. It would make sense that her father would be with someone that could also use flames like he himself could. But, then again Crystal doesn’t have any kind of feathers at all, but is able to use the regular flames a Fire Lycan could use.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Firebird.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A rare creature that is said to only appear maybe once every thousand years or so. Its race near extinction, they travel from one dimension to another. No hunter has ever been able to locate where their ‘nest’ is, for it is said that they only stay in the nest for hundreds of years before moving to the next.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Their abilities, rare as they are, are something that only the Firebirds can do. They are able to heal themselves, but cannot heal others. Their healing ability, is similar to a phoenix, as a phoenix can rise from their own ashes, a Firebird can easily heal themselves while injured but that is the extent of their healing abilities.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Otherwise, their control over fire is excellent and well controlled to the point that if they so choose to, they could easily just burn the clothes off of their enemy/target but not the skin.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Weird reason to want to use their flames.” Balthazar mumbled to himself with a soft sigh. Only to shake his head, so they do have healing abilities, but it seemed that they could only heal themselves. But if she was related to a Firebird, it would explain why her mother had to disappear all those years ago. But, then again there was no telling if that was the case.</p><p> </p><p>Something else for the maybe pile.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, Balthazar just leaned back in his chair. It had almost felt like he had been at this for hours now. Maybe he has? He wasn’t sure, though he just wanted to relax but knew that he still had a long way to go. Another sigh escaped him before he looked down at Peaches and started to pet her once again. This was going to be a long day for sure.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, his door slammed open, nearly making Balthazar jump out of his skin.</p><p> </p><p>“Yo Cavendish! I brought you some tea and snacks!” called out Vinnie as he walked into the trailer. Peaches, the ever adorable bunny that she is, just lifted her head for a brief moment before laying back down.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar rolled his eyes before spinning himself around in his chair as he stared at Vinnie. The demon just grinned over at him before starting to walk over to the human. “Okay, so I wasn’t sure what you’d be in the mood for. So I bought some tarts, some sweet buns.” Vinnie started to list off all the baked goods that he could buy for the two of them to share. It was always rather so endearing to see Vinnie so passionate about something.</p><p> </p><p>Though, it seemed that while the demon before him was speaking about all of the baked goods, he was even starting to eat some as he spoke. “Dakota! Don’t eat all of the pastries!” shouted Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Hm?” Vinnie blinked his eyes innocently before looking down at the snack that he was currently eating. Turning his gaze back to the human before him, Vinnie held out the half eaten treat. “Want it?”</p><p> </p><p>“Do you have one that hasn’t been… half eaten?” Balthazar blandly said, yet his eyes held a hint of irritation.</p><p> </p><p>Shoving the pastry in his mouth, the demon looked through the box of treats before grinning. “Yeah! Here ya go!”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar accepted the treat. It was a blackberry tart before he shrugged and started to eat. Looking up, he saw his demon now handing the blonde his tea as he said “I hope that you like it. Thought I’d switch it up for you. Ya know, to spice things up.” Vinnie chuckled a little. Honestly, the blonde didn’t mind that idea much, it would be rather boring to have the same thing over and over again.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a sip, he blinked as he looked down at the cup. “Blackberry tea? Really?” Okay, he knew that Vinnie bought blackberry tarts but… to also get him blackberry tea? That was rather interesting for sure though it was still something that he hadn’t been expected to say the least. Taking a deep breath, he said “It’s fine. It actually has a nice sweet taste to it.” He chuckled a little before taking another sip of his tea.</p><p> </p><p>“So, what are you looking at anyway?” asked Vinnie before grabbing a chair and brought it up next to the blonde. Reaching over and petting the bunny, who leaned into the Incubus’ touch before settling once again.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m doing some research for Crystal. Trying to find out what the other half of her heritage is. It is just so odd that she is immune to blessed objects as well as able to scent them.” The blonde replied before letting out a soft sigh. Rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, Balthazar calmly said “I just keep coming up empty handed. I just don’t know what I’m missing, what could the other heritage be.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie shrugged his shoulders before leaning back in his seat. Sipping at his coffee before his eyes widening and he started coughing. “Wait what?! Crystal’s other heritage? What are you talking about?!”</p><p> </p><p>“She’s only half Fire Lycan, you didn’t know? After all you had thought that maybe she was only half.”</p><p> </p><p>“No! She’s never mentioned it! I just thought it would be weird if she was only half.” Vinnie sounded hurt that his adopted sister never shared such information with him. Though, if Crystal hid it, maybe she had a reason for it. Before he could even speak of the possibility, Vinnie sighed before leaning back in his seat. “But, guess I can’t blame her. Halflings are not seen as anything but a curse.”</p><p> </p><p>“Halflings?” Balthazar questioned.</p><p> </p><p>He’s never heard of such a thing before, and it made him a little confused. The way Vinnie said it, there wasn’t any venom in his voice, nor discrimination. But pain, pain laced his words as if he had seen something just as bad that had happened. The demon took a deep breath as he whispered “Halflings are seen as a curse. They’re hated, hunted and killed. With Crystal living in my home, she was always safe. My parents always told me to be accepting of others, no matter what may come their way.”</p><p> </p><p>Makes sense…</p><p> </p><p>“But even then, halflings were still seen as nothing more than a curse. How Crystal had survived before making her way to my home? I’m baffled and shocked. Though it would explain why she wasn’t trusting of us at first.” Vinnie said softly before sipping at his coffee as he looked over at the stack of books that Balthazar had on his desk. He noticed a few of the books only to ask “Want some help? I bet I could help if you had someone else to look through that mountain of books.”</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, Balthazar would love such a thing. He would love the help, but at the same time he felt like it was something that he had to do himself. That this was something that he would need to do himself, because he had promised Crystal that she would be the first person to know about such a discovery should he learn the truth.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up at Vinnie for a brief moment, he felt like he was somehow betraying his demon, but wasn’t sure why that was. It wasn’t that he was hiding some great secret from the man, far from it. He had just promise Crystal that she would be the first one to learn of what he had discovered. Nothing more, but at the same time he wanted the help.</p><p> </p><p>Such conflicted feelings and it was making him feel all the worse for it.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the young man calmly said “No, I should be fine. I don’t want to bore you with my research anyway, maybe it would be better for you to go and enjoy yourself.”</p><p> </p><p>“I do when I’m with you though.” Vinnie said with a pout before looking over at the books on the blonde’s bookshelf. “I’ll just read one of those books instead. Maybe it’ll help pass the time till you’re ready for a break.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar merely rolled his eyes. Thinking that there would be no break for him as there was no point in such a thing. After all, what was he to do if he couldn’t find any information on what Crystal’s other half of her heritage was? Honestly, he would rather be by himself when it came to his researching but at the same time, he couldn’t help but look over at Vinnie fondly.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t really kick the demon out. His heart wouldn’t allow him to do such a thing in the first place. Though he wasn’t going to show that to Vinnie at the moment. “Do what you want.” Balthazar calmly said before he turned back to the books on the desk.</p><p> </p><p>“Awesome!” Vinnie shouted, before a flapping sound was heard behind him.</p><p> </p><p>Huh?</p><p> </p><p>Turning his head, he saw that Vinnie’s wings had appeared. Blinking his eyes a few times, the young man looked over at Vinnie’s wings, before turning his gaze back to the demon who now had a sheepish smile on his face. “Uh…?” Balthazar had no words for this, he had no idea what was happening or why this was even happened in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, my wings have been doing that lately. Popping out when I get overly excited.” Vinnie said with his sheepish smile still in place. Rubbing the back of his neck before he made his wings sink into his back once again. Though, if he was honest, Balthazar still liked his wings very much. Wanted to run his fingers through them but wasn’t sure if he would be able keep himself from doing so.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping, he looked away from his demon’s wings just before they had disappeared. Taking a deep breath, Balthazar calmly said “It’s most likely due to your wings gaining strength after not being used for so long.” It was the only thing that made sense to him. After not being used for so long, they were most likely going to pop out during times of great excitement or when he would need them.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over at the demon over his shoulder, he saw that Vinnie had laid down on the couch holding a book in his hands as he was reading. His coffee was on the table in front of the couch, Vinnie would reach over and sip at it now and again.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but smile a little. Vinnie was adorable just reading and it made him want to hug the man and just cuddle him. Though, he still had a task to do and he was going to ensure that he did it before he would be able to enjoy anything else.</p><p> </p><p>Lifting another book, he started to read something else about the paranormal. Thinking that maybe he’d be able to find something that would allow him to find well, anything at this point. Even if it was something as small as an idea as to what would lead Balthazar to finding something. Though he wasn’t having any kind of luck and that was starting to irritate him.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he was about to put his book away, only for Vinnie’s voice to cut through the silence.</p><p> </p><p>“Huh, didn’t think there were anything about these creatures. Beings of light that come down into either the demon or the human realms to live among them for a bit of time before disappearing.” Vinnie said with wonder in his voice.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar froze for a moment before he looked over at his demon. Did he hear what he think he heard? His heart was hammering in his chest at the thought of actually having something that could lead him to what he had been searching for. “Dakota, may I see that book?”</p><p> </p><p>“Huh? Sure.” Vinnie pushed himself up onto his feet before making his way over to the blonde. Handing him the book.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar wasted no time as he snatched the book from the demon’s hands and started to flip through the pages. “What page were you on?” asked Balthazar, trying to find anything, anything at all that would lead him to the answers that he desperately sought.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh… I think fifty eight?”</p><p> </p><p>Turning to the page, Balthazar blinked his eyes in shocked confusion as he looked at the page. It was something that was brushed up upon while in training but it was something that he would never have thought of. As no one would have dared to hunt these beings, as they were never around to even be hunted, plus the repercussions that would follow were rather dire.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Celestial.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Beings made of pure light, considered to be either god/goddess, angel, or anything in between. It is said, that they come to either the demon or mortal realms to understand the beings and the time that they live in. In the hopes of better understanding and to be closer to the people that they desperately wanted to be near. Wishing to learn as much as they could and could even sometimes love. Which, is extremely rare.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>They are able to understand the emotions of people, as they possess the abilities to understand emotions of anyone around them. Even able to replace the negative emotions that would swirl around in someone’s heart at the time. A celestial are even able to heal those around them of their injuries, not wishing anyone to be hurt no matter if it was by their own mistakes, or by an accident that had happened around them.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>But, the main thing about these beings is that they are made of pure energy given physical form. Able to touch, to hold, and to love like any other being in the universe. The only problem is that they are unable to stay in the demon or mortal realms. As they are to return after a certain amount of time has passed, if they do not return then their bodies are going to disappear from existence. They are unable to remain due to their bodies not being made of a true solid mass like that of a demon or mortal.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Once they return, they can only watch from a distance over the people they left behind and wait for their loved ones to join them in the heavens. Their one true power, is the power of their heavenly flames that can either harm, or heal people they deem either worthy, or unworthy of their love/friendship.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar could only stare with wide eyes, was he reading this right?</p><p> </p><p>He had reread the information a few times, wanting to make sure that he was seeing this properly. That it wasn’t a trick of his eyes from having been reading for lord knows how long by now. But, no matter how many times he was reading this, over and over again it would say the same thing.</p><p> </p><p>Her immunity to pure objects and seals as well as smelling them.</p><p> </p><p>The ability to read, reflect and respond to people’s emotional states.</p><p> </p><p>Then her ability to heal others.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, those white flames. How they hurt Vinnie at first when they were children, because she didn’t trust him much at first so he was injured from it, and how they seemed to heal everyone when they were attacked, because she cared about them and thus was able to heal them all, and how the Soulless had merely fallen onto the ground and hadn’t reacted after that.</p><p> </p><p>Hands trembling as he just stared at the page, rereading it over and over again, trying to ensure that maybe he hadn’t merely misread it from his first double checking. Wanting to understand. Wanting to make sure if he was reading this right in the first place. There was no way that this was right, if that was possible, how was it that she hadn’t burned to ashes in the first place? Two opposing energies couldn’t possibly… yet she was still alive.</p><p> </p><p>But the information was still in front of his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Balthazar, you okay there?” Vinnie asked with concern.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal was the child of both a Fire Lycan, and a Celestial. But how?!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm just gonna point this out. Yes, as a child of a celestial, she is a BIT OP BUT!!!!! she never knew, so never learned how to use/harness that power so she's not really OP right now. But it does play a huge part in the story, what that part is I won't reveal because I want that to be a surprise, but I am getting closer to finish writing the chapters, I'm writing chapter 32 right now before I hang out with a friend, long weekend so I should be able to get another chapter or two done before I go back to work tuesday, NOW! what do you think of the information on the paranormal creatures I put in? I know, I didn't put anything down for Nekoline, but that will show up later on for a different reason so I hope you still enjoyed this chapter, I'll put up another one maybe after I finish another chapter, later!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. A Shadow That Moves</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar is worried for his sister, so Crystal and Blade goes to get her. Though it seems that it wasn't what they had thought it was.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar narrowed his eyes as he stared at Vinnie. They had decided to train again, he had thought that training would get his mind off of everything that he had discovered. After discovering the other half of Crystal’s heritage, he had gone straight to her to alert her of all that he had found. Learning that a Celestial, even though there is no telling which kind it was, that she was still a child of one.</p><p> </p><p>Even why her mother had to leave. For if her mother had stayed, it would have killed her in the end due to her mother lacking an actual physical body. How her mother could even give birth in the first place, that was still strange. Though then again, a Celestial still had some kind of a physical form so that had worked in some odd way.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal even now, just sat in a corner as she was thinking everything over. That had been a week ago since telling her of his discovery. The woman hadn’t even bothered training in the first place, it just seemed as if she was just there for the company, rather than the purpose.</p><p> </p><p>“Balthazar.” Came Vinnie’s voice, causing the blonde to blink in confusion. The demon sighed softly as he pulled his hands back and rested them on his hips. “You shouldn’t feel guilty over this.” The demon calmly said with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t help but feel guilty over it. She has thought that her mother was most likely something else, that had fire control much like her father. Only to learn that her mother is an all-powerful being and she had never known, so she could have better control over her powers.” Balthazar let out a soft sigh as he ran a hand through his blonde locks. “It’s just-“</p><p> </p><p>“Just nothing.” Vinnie cut in. Narrowing his eyes before letting out a soft sigh. “She’ll overcome it at some point. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. Or even in a week, but she will learn to accept that she is what she is. Honestly, she may even be just a tad happy knowing what the other half is.” Vinnie said with a smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned a little before looking over at Crystal. Just curled up in the corner, Blade trying to coax her to try some training to blow off some steam. She would just shake her head and bury her face in her knees, trying to hide herself. That broke his heart a little seeing his friend in such distress. It bothered him a great deal, and he wanted to help his friend but just wasn’t sure on how to do it.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, Balthazar found the wind being knocked out of him as he fell on the ground. Groaning, and wheezing, the blonde looked up as he saw that Vinnie was now standing over him. “Look Cav,” He started, making the blonde whine a little before trying to push himself up onto his feet. “You can’t keep your mind focused on other things like that.”</p><p> </p><p>Frowning a little, the young man was about to open his mouth to speak but the Incubus cut him off. “No, listen to me.” Balthazar nodded his head. “Crystal will be fine. She’s been through a lot before all of this and she’ll overcome it just like before.” Then he narrowed his eyes before adding “Then of course if you’re just going to keep yourself distracted like this you’ll just end up getting yourself killed!”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar winced a little at that one. Vinnie had a point in that, if he allowed himself to get distracted in a real battle he’ll be killed off. Thankfully, Vinnie isn’t using his strength to do much damage. Pushing himself up onto his feet, Balthazar took a deep breath as he said “How about we have a bet shall we? If I get one hit in, then you have to clean up Peaches’ cage for a month.”</p><p> </p><p>“And if you can’t?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll let you decide.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie had a thoughtful frown on his face before grinning. It seemed that he had an idea as to what it would be. Though for the time being, Balthazar knew that he was going to keep his wits about him. He wanted to get a hit in, wanting to show that he had at least improved a little bit.  “Okay, I have an idea on what I want but I’m not telling till either time runs out, or you can land a punch or kick.”</p><p> </p><p>Rolling his eyes, Balthazar calmly said “Are you going to keep talking or you going to get ready to fight?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oooooh, already itching for a fight! Alright, bring it on!” Vinnie said with a laugh.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar smirked a little before getting back into a fighting stance. He knew that this was going to be a challenge, but it was something that he was willing to do so. There had to be a way to get a win in on this. Vinnie was a well-trained fighter, able to hold his own in a fight should he ever want to fight to protect someone, or if he had no choice <em>but</em> to fight.</p><p> </p><p>This was going to be interesting, though Balthazar had an idea as to how he could get a hit in. Though he figured that it would be better than doing whatever it was that Vinnie wanted of him.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man narrowed his eyes as he threw a punch at Vinnie. The demon merely dodged out of the way. Went to throw in his own punch this time but the blonde had managed to jump out of the way. Rolling onto the ground before getting back onto his feet, Balthazar tried to kick at Vinnie’s head, hoping to at least get a hit in.</p><p> </p><p>The demon grabbed a hold of the blonde’s ankle and smirked. He merely shoved his foot back, nearly knocking Balthazar a few steps back. Vinnie though just smirked at him before jumping to attack or at least to give a strike of his own. Though, Balthazar managed to dodge. Yet, when Vinnie landed on his own feet once again, he threw another punch. Then a few spin kicks in the hopes of knocking Balthazar back.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde merely just kept jumping back trying to dodge the attacks. He wasn’t sure if he could easily catch the demon’s attacks as easily. Though he knew that he would have to try something else. Sadly, he wasn’t sure what it would be. Then again, he had an idea but it would be risky in trying to get the hit in but it was a theory that he wanted to try at least.</p><p> </p><p>Rushing forward, Balthazar looked like he was about to throw a punch, Vinnie of course went to grab at the blonde…</p><p> </p><p>Only for Balthazar to zip behind Vinnie and press his fingers at the base of his neck, and ducked.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie’s body shuddered for a moment before his wings shot out from his back and they flapped a few times. The demon stumbled a little on his feet from the shock of his wings coming out of his back. Balthazar smiled before taking this chance to tackle Vinnie to the ground, nuzzled between his wings as he chuckled. “Got you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah… you do… kinda in a dirty way though. How did you know about that in the first place?” Vinnie whined a little.</p><p> </p><p>“Blade told me about how to get your wings to retract, so it got me thinking if it would work in the reverse.” Balthazar said with a chuckle before leaning forward and kissed the demon’s cheek.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine, guess I’ll get to work on Peaches’ cage.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hold on that, think you can try to support my weight this time? Maybe a little longer?”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure, just get off me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, right sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>Once Balthazar pushed himself up onto his feet, the young man could only watch as Vinnie had managed to push himself up onto his feet. His wings shuddered a little, a few feathers falling out. Was he stressed out again or were they already loose in the first place? Frowning, the blonde went to reach out to make sure that he’s okay. Though a few flaps of his wings, Vinnie just grinned before he reached to his wing and plucked a stray feather. “There we go.” He said with a chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you okay?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Hm?” He hummed softly and blinked before looking over at Balthazar with a frown on his face. “What?” Vinnie tilted his head to the side.</p><p> </p><p>Did he not hear what the blonde said?! “I was asking if you are okay. Your feathers… are you stressed?”</p><p> </p><p>“Nah, they fall out now and against. I didn’t brush out the loose feathers yet so some of the feathers fall out when I flap my wings right now. I’ll brush them later.” Vinnie said with a chuckle before he flapped his wings a few times. Actually, Balthazar wanted to try brushing those majestic wings of his. Though he wasn’t sure how to even ask something as such.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar let out a yelp as Vinnie wrapped his arms around the blonde and just grinned at him. “Alright, ready to do this?” The young man just let out a squeak in responds. Unsure as to what he was to do but all he wanted was to enjoy the warmth that he was feeling from his demon. Just wanting to snuggle the Incubus’ chest but restrained himself for the time being.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie flapped his wings a few times before his feet left the ground. Though not by much yet, he was slowly starting to rise higher and higher. Balthazar blinked a few times as he looked up at his demon wanting to make sure that Vinnie wasn’t trying to hide his pain. Though it seemed that the smile the demon was wearing, was strained and forced. Sweat started to bead on his forehead as he was taking a few deep breaths though not overly so.</p><p> </p><p>“You alright? You are not straining yourself are you?” Balthazar asked with concern.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m fine, have to keep pushing past current limits till I can be at a hundred percent.” Vinnie said with a chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar had to admit, that made a lot of sense. Sometimes you had to push past your current limit just so you can make yourself stronger and work toward passing the next limit. The blonde couldn’t help but tighten his hold around the demon’s shoulders, wanting to make sure that he wouldn’t fall since they were getting further and further from the ground.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over at Vinnie, he couldn’t help but blush a little at how close they were. Honestly, the blonde wanted to kiss Vinnie in this moment. Wanted to kiss his demon and never let him go. Blinking his eyes a couple times, Balthazar couldn’t help but think about that. Just how long has he been referring Vinnie as ‘his’ demon? Just how long has that been going on?</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Cavendish you alright? You seem kinda-“</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ring!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Did you bring your phone?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Always, you should know that. Now, put me down.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Ring!</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Alright.” Vinnie calmly said before carefully lowering himself onto the ground as he landed on the ground. Releasing his hold over Balthazar as the blonde rushed over to his phone.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar rummaged through his bag as he tried to find his cell. He could hear it going off, even if it would stop ringing, only to start ringing again. Whoever it was, they must be desperate to contact him. Soon, he managed to grab his phone and saw that it was his sister. Frowning, he accepted the call. “Zoey?”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Balthy!!!! Help me!”</em> shouted Zoey from the other end.</p><p> </p><p>That sent alarm bells ringing in his head. Quickly, he put the phone on speaker so everyone can hear what was going on. “Zoey, what’s wrong?!” Balthazar said with worry.</p><p> </p><p>Sobs and sniffles were heard. As well as rummaging around in the background. Balthazar couldn’t help but wonder what was going on, on her end right now. “Zoey, take deep breaths, and tell me what’s going on okay? Please?”</p><p> </p><p><em>”I went home to check on mom and dad.”</em> She started, everyone started to surround the blonde as he listened to his sisters phone call. There was no way that she’d be this scared and not have something happening around the house right now anyway right? <em>”When I got here, there was some strange guy in the living room with them. He was talking about… ending the family curse, only to shout out that he was going to get the sexy blonde that should have been his long ago.”</em> That was kinda a weird thing to say.</p><p> </p><p>“Anything else?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Sniffling, Zoey hummed out a reply. Most likely wiping at her tears right now. <em>”I tripped into the living room after he did changed and did something to mother and father, and then he gave me a look. He ordered mom and dad to attack me and… and they ran at me!”</em> That was weird, why would their parents go to attack their own daughter? It just didn’t make sense to him and it was sending more alarm bells in his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Zoey, just stay calm okay? I’ll find a way to get to you. Just stay calm okay? Just… just stay calm okay?”</p><p> </p><p>His sister sniffled more as she said <em>”Okay, I know you’ll keep me safe Balthy. Just, please hurry? I’m scared.”</em></p><p> </p><p>“Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to get to you. I’ll make sure that you’re safe alright Z-“</p><p> </p><p>A loud scream was hurt, Balthazar screamed out his sister’s name… till a cold, familiar chilling voice was heard.</p><p> </p><p><em>”You’re next.”</em> then the line went dead.</p><p> </p><p><em>”Zoey! Zoey! Please answer me!”</em> shouted Balthazar as he tried to call his sister. The phone was either off, or it had been destroyed. He had no means of contacting his sister, he couldn’t call the land line because his parents weren’t even themselves right now. What was going on?!</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish, calm down!” Vinnie said as he held the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>“We have to get to my sister! She’s in danger! You heard that call!” Balthazar cried out, panic sweeping through his entire body.</p><p> </p><p>“We’ll go.” Crystal calmly said as she looked at Blade. “Blade and I can go, we’ll travel through shadows to get to her no problem.” She calmly explained as Blade nodded his head.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m coming-“</p><p> </p><p>“No, you’re not. You and Vinnie need to stay here. Vinnie would just end up following you to get your sister out of harm’s way.” Crystal explained.</p><p> </p><p>“She has a point, and Vincent doesn’t have his full strength back right now. There is no way for him to stay out of danger if he follows you.” Blade calmly said before looking over at Crystal. Who just nodded her head before he held his hand out and a shadow pulled itself off of the wall creating what could be best described as a portal of waving tendrils.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown at that. So he could easily control shadows but, then again he hadn’t trained at all today so he had enough time to summon the shadows to do as he pleased. “Let’s go puppy.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait.” Crystal calmly said before sniffing at Balthazar, who merely backed up away from her. “What?” She asked with a frown.</p><p> </p><p>“Why are you sniffing me?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh that’s easy!” Vinnie chuckled a little before wrapping his arm around the blonde’s shoulders. “See, siblings have very similar scents. They only have like, a very slim difference in scent but otherwise, they are pretty much the same. So Crystal has to sniff you, to get an idea as to how your sister smells then she’ll be able to locate her easier.”</p><p> </p><p>Oh, that made… that actually made sense. At least it made sense when Vinnie said it which was weird that he would say anything that sounded even remotely smart.</p><p> </p><p>“We’ll meet you back at the trailer. Just head back and we’ll meet you there alright?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes.” Balthazar said with a nod before wringing his hands. “Just, tell my sister that ‘Balthy will always protect you Zophia.’”</p><p> </p><p>“Zophia?” Everyone questioned.</p><p> </p><p>“Zophia is her actual name, she just hates it. Just please hurry up and save her!” Balthazar shouted at the end in panic.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal and Blade nodded before shifting into their demon forms and jumped through the shadowy portal and disappearing. Balthazar though was worried about the whole thing. He just hoped and his sister would be safe. Vinnie though just held onto Balthazar, before taking him toward their trailer. His wings retracting before they left.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Crystal and Blade left the shadows as they came into a rather large and pristine hallway. Long halls painted white, with columns lining the halls before splitting up straight ahead, left and right. Crystal couldn’t help but frown a little at that. The house was rather large, most likely large enough to house a very big family.</p><p> </p><p>Turning her gaze around, the demon woman couldn’t help but frown a little as she sniffed at the air in the hopes of finding Balthazar’s sister.</p><p> </p><p>“Puppy, do you sense that?” asked Blade as he narrowed his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“A dark and evil presents?” Crystal whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, let’s get moving. We’ll need to hurry up and find her before taking her out of this place.” Blade nodded before summoning a lance, while Crystal summoned her sword. Both nodded to each other before making their way down the hallway. The Fire Lycan looked around at their surroundings as they ran down the halls. She was sniffing the air, trying to find a scent that matched Balthazar’s.</p><p> </p><p>A scent of blackberries, and cinnamon.</p><p> </p><p>Sniffing at the air, Crystal grabbed Blade’s wrist and pulled him left. “This way.” She could faintly smell a scent similar to Balthazar’s but it had a scent that was mixed with lilacs. Narrowing her eyes, she sniffed at the air once again before running down the hall. “This way!” She hissed to her friend as they ran as quickly as they could.</p><p> </p><p>Running, and running was all that she could feel herself doing in the moment. It just seemed that the halls were never ending, and it made her think on how Balthazar wasn’t even more… pompous? Was that the right word? Maybe. Shaking her head, the young woman skidded on the floor before making a sharp turn. Blade still right behind her as he tried to keep up. Crystal was much faster than him, that much was for sure though he was still just as strong.</p><p> </p><p>The duo made it to some kind of grand hall.</p><p> </p><p>In the hall was decorated with shelves of books. Weapons that looked like they belonged in the medieval ages and two large chairs. Maybe those were the chairs that Balthazar’s parents would occupy when they were home perhaps. Though Crystal could easily smell all the blessed objects in the house, but it made Crystal feel a little uncomfortable, but mostly for Blade than her if she was truly immune to pure objects.</p><p> </p><p>“Puppy, why did you lead us here?” asked Blade.</p><p> </p><p>Looking around, Crystal held up her hand, giving a silent order for Blade to stay where he was as she slowly walked further and further into the room. She knew that she had to figure this out here. The sense of danger was still here in this room, but so was Zoey’s scent. “Zoey? Are you in here?” Crystal whispered softly, sniffing around the room while she was trying to find the woman. Then her sense of smell lead her to the large urns that was lining the wall.</p><p> </p><p>Tilting her head, Crystal carefully lifted the lid and a scream was heard.</p><p> </p><p><em>”Please don’t eat me!”</em> shouted a young woman.</p><p> </p><p>The young woman had long blonde hair with tints of red in her locks. Not really strawberry blonde but very close to it. The demon woman tilted her head as the blonde before her looked up with wide tearful turquoise eyes. Yup, this was Balthazar’s sister.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal couldn’t say anything though. This poor girl was terrified, most likely having been raised by hunters had caused her to be afraid of demons, much like how Balthazar had been afraid of them at first. Yet, at first the demon had figured that since Balthazar was trained by hunters to be one, there was a chance that Zoey on the other hand was not.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe that was why Balthazar told her to say that line when they found Zoey?</p><p> </p><p>“Balthy will always protect you Zophia.” Crystal calmly said.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey blinked her eyes in shock before slowly rising herself out of the urn. It seemed that she hadn’t expected anyone other than her brother to say that. “Did you… did you really just say…?” She whispered in confusion. Crystal slowly nodded her head. The woman before her just blinked her eyes more, her confusion was clear both in her expression as well as what Crystal could sense. “You know my brother?” asked Zoey with wide eyed concern and fear.</p><p> </p><p>“We do actually. You may not believe us but we’re also the bandmates of Vincent Dakota.” Blade calmly said.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey’s eyes widened in shock and she opened her mouth. Crystal’s eyes widened for a moment before reaching out and slapped her hand over the woman’s mouth to keep her from screaming. “Please don’t scream, we don’t know where the attackers are, or if they are still in the building.” Crystal calmly said, the Fire Lycan knew that this was a risk just sticking around right now but knew that they had to do something. Breathing deeply, the demon woman looked over at Blade as she nodded. “Get ready to take us out of here Blade.”</p><p> </p><p>“You got it puppy!” Blade said with a grin.</p><p> </p><p>“Damn it Blade stop calling me-“</p><p> </p><p>Soon, Crystal cried out in pain as she went flying into the wall, gripping her shoulder as she felt blood staining her clothes as well as her skin. Gritting her teeth, Crystal looked up and stared at her attacker. Only to stare in shock as she saw a shadowy figure standing before her. No, he had no legs, but a ghostly tail as he held a sword in his hand. “Odd, thought for sure that sword would kill you for sure, maybe the blessing wore out.”</p><p> </p><p>So he had tried to kill her with a blessed sword it seemed. Though that wasn’t going to work, not with her immunity. Breathing deeply, the demon looked up as the shadow was floating toward her. “I’ll just have to get you both out of the way then I can finally get what I’ve wanted for hundreds of years!” He laughed like a mad man. Pressing her back against the wall, Crystal stared with wide eyes, unsure as to what she was to do.</p><p> </p><p>With him being a shadow, would her weapon even work?</p><p> </p><p>Before she could even speak, Blade stood before her and whacked the shadow with his lance. The shadow hissed and backed up. The Nekoline looked over his shoulder as he said “I’ll take care of this Crystal. Just go and get Zoey to safety then we can get out of here.” Not even a moment after that, Crystal saw Blade jump at the shadow, his lance transforming into a sword as he swung at the shadow.</p><p> </p><p>Pushing herself up, pulling her hand away from her shoulder as she saw blood had stained her fingers and claws. He’s right, they had to get Zoey out of here though it still confused her as to where Zoey’s and Balthazar’s parents were in the first place. Shaking her head, the young woman made her way over to Zoey as she said “Come on, let’s get you to safety.”</p><p> </p><p>“What about your friend?” asked Zoey.</p><p> </p><p>“He’ll be fine, he’s tough.” Crystal responded.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over toward Blade and the shadow, the demon woman could only watch in shock as Blade swung his sword at the shadow. The sword of course would just phase through him now and again. Yet when the shadow would attack, his wispy tail would form legs for a brief moment and strike at Blade. The Nekoline yelped and hissed out in pain before he would swing his weapon once again.</p><p> </p><p>The attack would hit, but there was no blood. No cry of pain. No scream… nothing. It was as if he was immune to weapons that made no sense to her. All creatures could be hurt by something, and yet he couldn’t be hurt by their weapons? It didn’t make sense to her.</p><p> </p><p>Part of her told her to run off with Zoey, to ensure her safety yet the other part of her, a small part that told her to never leave Blade’s side after all that they have gone through together… that was screaming at her. Narrowing her eyes, the Fire Lycan calmly said “Zoey, stay hidden. Don’t come out till we call for your real name.”</p><p> </p><p>Zoey nodded her head as she lowered herself into the urn. Crystal turned away for a moment as she grabbed the lid and set it on the urn in order to keep Zoey hidden.</p><p> </p><p>A scream hit her ears, causing Crystal to freeze.</p><p> </p><p>Whipping her head around, the young woman stared with wide eyes as she saw Blade slumped against the wall. The shadow seeming to have become ‘solid’ for the time being, as the shadow placed a hand on Blade’s chest, right over his heart as he leaned toward him. “Your soul is mine.” He whispered before pressing his lips onto Blade’s.</p><p> </p><p>The Fire Lycan’s eyes widened in shock as she saw Blade struggling, only for the struggling to weaken, his skin growing pale as the shadow pulled his lips back as a bright light was slowly starting to emerge from Blade’s lips.</p><p> </p><p><em>”No! Blade!”</em> shouted Crystal as she rushed forward as quickly as she could. Thrusting her hand out, she grabbed a hold of the shadow’s shoulder in the hopes of pulling him away from her friend.</p><p> </p><p>The shadow screamed out in agonizing pain as his ‘spell’ or whatever it was on Blade had released itself. Blade slumped to the floor, unmoving but Crystal could still make out the slow rise and fall of his chest. A hiss reached her ears, causing the Fire Lycan to look over at the shadow as it glared at her with glowing yellow eyes before flying through the doors and out of their sight.</p><p> </p><p>Rushing over toward Blade, Crystal shook him in the hopes of waking him up. Though, the Nekoline didn’t move or even speak to her. Crystal was panicking, they couldn’t get out of here without Blade’s control over shadows. Unless… it was a slight risk, but it should be strong enough to wake him up long enough for him to use his shadows to get them all back to the trailers in order to get them all to safety.</p><p> </p><p>“Zophia, come out!” Crystal cried out.</p><p> </p><p>The urn’s lid slowly fell off and clattered onto the floor. Zoey came out of the urn and slowly made her way over toward the two demons. “Hey, is he okay?” asked Zoey with a frown on her face.</p><p> </p><p>The demon woman frowned a little before looking over at the young woman. Yeah, Crystal knew that she had to do this or they would have a long way to get back. Taking a deep breath, the Fire Lycan calmly said “I’ll have to force his emotions to the surface of his subconscious, if I can do that then I can get him to use his shadow manipulation long enough to get us back to the trailers and you can be with your brother.”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, what about Vinnie does he know about you two being… um…”</p><p> </p><p>“He does, I’ll get Cavendish to explain.” Crystal responded, not a hint of emotion in her voice. Reaching out, she flipped Blade onto his back as she pressed her fingertips (after removing the blood from her hand) to Blade’s temples as she closed her eyes. Focusing on Blade’s emotions. The emotions that she knew that was used in order to bring out his control over shadow. It would take a lot of her own energy to do so, but it would be worth it in the end.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the demon woman tried to find the emotions, yet it almost seemed as if he was in some kind of deep sleep. A sleep that made it hard for her to even locate him in.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, she opened her eyes for a moment, noticing the grey now starting to decorate the hair around his ears. Just what did that shadow do to Blade? What was it trying to do? Was it really…? That can’t be right, there was no way that it was possible.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking her head, Crystal looked up at Zoey as she said “I’m almost to his subconscious, just hold onto my good shoulder and we should be traveling through shadows. Just don’t let go understand?”</p><p> </p><p>Zoey nodded her head before grabbing onto the uninjured shoulder of the Fire Lycan, as Crystal turned her gaze back onto Blade. Seeing him look like this, it broke her heart to see him like this. Tears started to pool in her eyes as she stared at her friend in his current state. Taking a deep shuddering breath, the demon woman closed her eyes once again, focusing more of her power into this as she opened her eyes, a white glow took over her eyes. Overtaking her pupils and irises as she whispered “Please come to the surface once again Blade. Take us back to the trailers and we can treat you properly.”</p><p> </p><p>Blade groaned softly, his eyes opening but were blank and void of all emotion. She had no idea how he was responding like this but at least he seemed as if he was awake right now. For that, she was thankful but knew that this was taking a lot of her own energy to do this. The Nekoline lifted his hand as the shadows that surrounded them lifted from their surfaces and started to surround the trio before they slowly started to sink into the ground.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey of course was panicking, ended up wrapping her arms around the demon woman, trembling and trying to keep herself from crying out in panic and fear. Crystal closed her eyes as she kept her focus on Blade in the hopes that they could get back to safety. The demon though, knew that she would never allow Blade out of her sight so long as he was recovering.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yup, a shadow being came and attacked, I won't say what it is yet, but it will be revealed, I have 5 chapters left to write, I finished 3 chapters today so I'm happy with what I got done today. Now, I should mention though, that what hurt the shadow? Is an important part of the story but I won't reveal it but I'll leave it for you to guess but it won't be revealed till near the end. Hoping you enjoy and to all my fellow Canadians, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Feral State?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vinnie goes to check on his friends after the attack, Crystal is acting weird and Balthazar is trying to get his sister to explain what happened after a days of rest for everyone.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vinnie let out a soft sigh as he stood in front of the door to Blade’s trailer. It had already been a day since Crystal, Blade, and Balthazar’s sister Zoey came through the shadows. The one thing that he hadn’t expected, was to see Blade unconscious, Crystal holding him in her arms while trembling with a bleeding shoulder, and Zoey to be clinging onto the Fire Lycan like a life line. Okay maybe the latter he expected a little. It was hard to tell if she was struggling to keep herself from crying, or controlling her anger at whoever had done that to her friend.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey of course, the moment she had seen Balthazar she ran to him and held onto him. Shaking like a leaf while her older brother held her. Trying to comfort the young woman in his arms. To be honest, Vinnie wanted to try to comfort the woman but even he knew that she would need the comfort from her brother more than anything else.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, it had taken all of his own mental energy to try to help Crystal take Blade to his trailer but she would just growl at him, or well, anyone that would try to come near. Had she gone into some kind of shock? Then of course there is the fact that she had a wound on her shoulder. It was still bleeding a little when they had returned, though not as badly as before. The one thing that had confused the Incubus, was why it hadn’t healed yet.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, he looked down at the first aid kit in his hand. Balthazar had given him to try to patch up Crystal’s shoulder if, she would allow such a thing in the first place. Since, everyone knew that Crystal couldn’t heal herself. So that made it difficult for her to even try to fight or even move. The demon knew that this was going to be difficult for Vinnie to try to get close to Crystal at the moment.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the demon slowly opened the door, seeing just how dark the room was. He wasn’t sure why the room was so dark but figured it was so Blade could rest? But then again, the guy could easily sleep outside on a sunny day so there was no way it was that.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping a little, nearly fearing for his own safety before he pushed himself up onto the steps before slowly making his way into the room. “Hey… uh… Crystal?” Vinnie called out, unsure if she would even respond to him.</p><p> </p><p>His gaze moving around as he was trying to find any kind of source of Crystal. A sound, a whimper, her stomach growling or anything really. But he wasn’t sure what it was, though he hoped that he would have seen some sign of the woman. Tilting his head, Vinnie walked around the room in the hopes of finding his friends. “Crystal? Blade? You guys still here?”</p><p> </p><p>A soft rustling was heard, causing Vinnie to blink as he looked toward the back of the trailer. Blade’s room, the door was slightly ajar making him think that maybe they were still in the room. Sniffing at the air, he didn’t smell anything he didn’t want to smell. So that had to be a plus, though he couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong. Slowly, he started to make his way toward the bedroom before slowly opening the door. Tilting his head, he saw Blade sleeping in his bed. Blanket covering the man up to his chest with his arms resting atop of the blanket against his sides.</p><p> </p><p>Blade looked rather peaceful, that was for sure. Just looked like he was having a peaceful sleep rather than having just gone through some kind of battle that had taken place. It made him wonder just what it was that had caused this to have happened. Blade was even still in his demon form, haven’t been able to change back, but then again not like anyone was going to come in here in the first place. He even noticed that Blade now had white hair surrounding his ears. Yesterday it was grey, but it had gone white on him… weird.</p><p> </p><p>Especially Brick since he only really cared about Vinnie’s health more than anyone else since the man was the ‘true face’ of the band.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping, the demon made his way over toward the bed. He saw Crystal sitting on Blade’s bed. She was just sitting there, legs crossed with her hands resting on her ankles as she stared at the Nekoline. It was as if she was in some kind of trance, it made Vinnie worried as he spoke “Hey, Crystal I brought you a first aid kit. Hoping that it’ll help your shoulder. Also do you want something to eat? You haven’t-“ A hiss, no a snarl was heard as Crystal, who had been quiet the whole time whipped her head around and snarled at Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping, the Incubus backed up a few steps as he stared at his friend. Crystal never acted like this before, even when she was in a battle, trying to keep Vinnie safe all these years with Blade at her side, she would never act like this toward him. His own heart was racing within his chest, unsure as to what it was that was going on in her head right now. It just made him almost afraid for his own safety before he saw that her snarling was starting to die down when he backed up.</p><p> </p><p>So, she didn’t want him close?</p><p> </p><p>Or it was that she didn’t want anyone close to him?</p><p> </p><p>There is no way of knowing what it was that was going on through her head right now. But all he knew, was that Crystal needed to be treated of her injury and it had to be done now. “Crystal, let me treat your shoulder okay? You can’t keep allowing your injury be. I don’t even know why it’s not healing properly.” By now, the wound should have healed and yet it hadn’t, so that had Vinnie worried over everything.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal though just kept snarling at Vinnie. As if daring him to try to come closer to her during… whatever this even was right now. Taking a deep breath, the Incubus calmly said “Look, if you let me treat your shoulder, I’ll go okay? I’ll bring food for you later if you’re willing to eat?” Crystal just glared at him, as if thinking everything over in her head. He saw a small spark of who she was flashing within her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>It just seemed so strange. It was as if she was in some kind of feral state but, still kept some form of herself in control. Blinking her eyes a couple times, the feral shine that had overcame her golden red orbs, (still in demon form it seemed) just gave one last snarl before carefully lifting her shirt enough to give Vinnie access to her back.</p><p> </p><p>To be honest, what he saw nearly made Vinnie gasp in shock.</p><p> </p><p>The wound, still red and raw as if it had just happened. (Even though it happened just the day before) Blood still oozing from the injury, it made him wonder how she hadn’t passed out from blood loss. Taking a deep breath, hoping to steel his nerves from this. Blood still bothered him from the sight of blood thanks to the two times that he lost the two lives of Balthazar. (As well as the stabbing that the current Balthazar went through) Blood was something that would give him terrible memories of those times…</p><p> </p><p>Carefully, he pulled up a chair, Crystal had started to growl when he attempted sitting on the side of the bed. Once he was comfortable, he started to get to work on Crystal’s shoulder. The injury was for the most part clean, it was a clean cut. Swift, but it made him wonder what the creature was that attacked them was.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey tried to describe what it was, but to be honest he has no idea.</p><p> </p><p>The creature was something that he had never seen before so he had no idea what the paranormal creature was in the first place. Reaching into the first aid kit, he pulled out some gauze and some antiseptic spray. Crystal hissed a little when he used the spray. “Raise your arms, the gauze will stay in place but I’ll need to wrap it up.” He pulled up the gauze and then, Crystal raised her arms above her head as Vinnie finished patching her up.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, good as new. I’ll have to check it tomorrow if it’ll work out for you.” Vinnie calmly explained, though he got no reply. Letting out a soft sigh, he gently patted her good shoulder before making his way out of the trailer. Crystal hadn’t once looked away from Blade while she was being patched up. <em>’Please be okay Blade…’</em> Vinnie thought to himself before walking out of the trailer in the hopes that Blade would wake up and soon.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Balthazar paced about in his trailer. It had been a day since everyone returned from his parents’ home and he couldn’t help but feel worried. When Crystal, Blade and Zoey came up from the floor thanks to Blade’s shadows, well what he saw he hadn’t expected.</p><p> </p><p>First, was the fact that Blade was unconscious and Crystal having both of her hands on his temples for reasons that he didn’t understand, nor did he think that he could understand. But to see the Nekoline just lying on the floor out like a light? He wasn’t sure what to really think about such a thing.</p><p> </p><p>Second, the injury on Crystal’s shoulder. The blood was just oozing from her shoulder though not in a dangerous way. Such as the worry of her bleeding out, though he had asked her why the wound was even bleeding in the first place. What had caused it and how did it happen? He wasn’t sure if he would even get an answer in the end but she hadn’t. She just snarled at anyone that would dare come near her and Blade. It was as if she had gone feral in that moment and that terrified the blonde if he was honest.</p><p> </p><p>Thirdly the fact that his sister, who had been terrified of demons pretty much her entire life was clinging to Crystal like a life line. He knew that if she had to choose sides between the attacker that had done this to Blade and Crystal, and well them? She’d choose the side that wasn’t going to attack her. The young man let out a soft sigh before running a hand through his hair as he was trying to think on what he was to do.</p><p> </p><p>Right now, his sister was curled up in his bed sleeping. He had told Vinnie that he would need the Incubus to come to his trailer the next morning once the shock had worn off for his sister. Knowing that if anymore demons were revealed to her in that moment that it could send her over the edge.</p><p> </p><p>Stopping in his pacing, the blonde couldn’t help but frown as he looked over at the door that went to his bedroom. Zoey was still sleeping, unless she was awake and just lying in his bed and just well, thinking about everything that had happened lately. In the last twenty-four hours, she had endured a bit, though he had no idea what was happening. Had even tried calling their parents but there was no answer. Even tried calling their cellphones and nothing.</p><p> </p><p>There had to be something that he was missing right now, though he was unsure as to what it was. It just felt like everything was starting to spiral out of control and it had him worried for his family at this point.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Knock, knock, knock</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Blinking slowly, the young man made his way over toward the door of his trailer. Hoping that it wouldn’t have woken up his sister. When he opened the door, there was Vinnie holding a tray of drinks. Coffee for the Incubus, tea for Balthazar and… uh…</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t know what your sister liked so I just went for a chocolate shake.” Vinnie said with a small smile. Balthazar just gave a small smile in return before allowing the demon into his trailer. “How is she?” asked his demon.</p><p> </p><p>The blonde could only sigh softly, wringing his hands as he looked between Vinnie to his bedroom and back. “She hasn’t come out since she went to bed yesterday. I don’t know if she’s still in shock or if the whole ordeal just wore her out that much. I don’t even know what had happened before Crystal and Blade got there.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie stared in concern. Even though he hasn’t met Zoey, he’s at least spoken to her a couple times so he also had a good deal of concern for the woman. The demon looked back over toward the back of the trailer before setting the tray down on the coffee table. “We’ll give her a little more time. But we do need to talk to her. I wanna know what she saw and went through before Crystal and Blade got there to save her. How Crystal was injured and Blade’s coma? I’m concerned for my friends.” Vinnie calmly said before grabbing his coffee.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar knew that Vinnie did have a point, but knew that he also couldn’t force Zoey to give them all the details from the get go. Turning to stare at Vinnie, he calmly said “We’ll have to give her some time is all. Please, she had gone through something difficult.”</p><p> </p><p>“I get it Cav, but one friend was hurt, and the other is in a coma! I’m concerned for my friends and then Crystal is acting weird and I don’t know what to do!” Vinnie whined.</p><p> </p><p>Right, Crystal hadn’t really said anything since they returned. It was as if she had changed in that moment due to Blade’s state. Letting out a soft sigh, Balthazar sat down on the couch before patting the spot next to him. Grabbing his tea, he calmly asked “How is she anyway? I remember that she was wounded when returning.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie bit his lower lip before taking another sip of his coffee. “Well, I couldn’t really get near her to be honest. I had gone to check up on them and well, Blade is still the same as yesterday.” The Incubus began in his explanation from when he had seen his two friends. Breathing in deeply, the demon went on. “I got even remotely close and she started to snarl at me. Crystal is just sitting on Blade’s bed watching him. I dunno, but it’s like she’s waiting for him to wake up.”</p><p> </p><p>Hm, made him wonder if Crystal did actually have some kind of feelings for Blade but hadn’t responded to those feelings much like how Balthazar had ignored his own feelings for Vinnie? There is no way of knowing till Blade wakes up. Or… if he wakes up. “What about her injury?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“It was still kinda bad, I’m confused as to why it hadn’t healed yet. It’s not normal for a wound not to heal unless she had no energy left.” Vinnie responded before shaking his head. “But, she was still awake so, there shouldn’t be a reason for her not to heal properly.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned a little at that. Hm, it made him a little curious himself though he remembered something. Now he felt like a fool for forgetting. “Actually, before Zoey went to bed, she <em>had</em> mentioned that Crystal had been hit by a sword, the sword was supposed to be blessed but it hadn’t done anything to her.” Which, Balthazar thought was strange, all the weapons in his parents’ home always had the blessing redone after a while. To ensure that should a demon get in the house that they would be able to take care of the creature quickly.</p><p> </p><p>For it not to have worked at all? Well, Balthazar figured that it was due to Crystal’s Celestial heritage, as that would keep her safe from being killed by blessed weapons. But what if… “What if blessed weapons keep her from healing quickly? What if her healing slowed down to the point that it just seemed like she was healing at a human’s rate but still quicker than a human?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes a few times. It seemed that it hadn’t ever crossed his mind. Then again, it wasn’t like they had anyone else that had some kind of immunity to anything that would be blessed or had any kind of pure proprieties to them. Crystal was rare, so that made it a little more challenging for people to understand, so this was all a learning experience for everyone.</p><p> </p><p>Then the Incubus calmly said “Never thought of that. I just hope that she’ll heal soon, kinda sad that she can’t heal herself.”</p><p> </p><p>“I think it’s because a Celestial don’t get ‘wounded’ or can bleed, so they don’t have a reason to heal themselves so their powers is to work on others. Not themselves.” Balthazar explained before looking over at his Incubus. “Because of that, Crystal isn’t able to heal herself because of her mother’s lineage.”</p><p> </p><p>“That kinda sucks though.” Vinnie responded.</p><p> </p><p>“Indeed it does.”</p><p> </p><p>“Balthy?” came a female’s voice.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes, Balthazar and Vinnie both looked over to the once closed door to see Zoey standing there. She had her hand holding her elbow in a nervous fashion. Her eyes still looked a little haunted by what had happened, her skin still looked paler than usual but, Balthazar was just happy to see that she had at least came out of the bedroom.</p><p> </p><p>“Zoey!” Balthazar said as he got up and went over to his sister and hugged her.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey hugged her brother back and trembled in his arms. He knew that she was still scared from yesterday. Gulping a little, he pulled back enough as he asked “Are you okay to talk about what happened yesterday?”</p><p> </p><p>His sister trembled more, he knew that it still bothered her about what had happened. Looking around, Balthazar knew that she would need something to snuggle with. It was how he used to get her to calm down when they were children. Zoey used to get in trouble with bullies in classes to the point that she was terrified over what happened when those bullies shoved her. Then he saw what he needed. “Vinnie, can you get Zoey to the couch? I’m gonna get something.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie nodded his head before pushing himself up and went to help Zoey onto the couch. Balthazar went to his bunny’s cage and carefully lifted Peaches out and made his way over to his sister. Zoey blinked her eyes up at him in confusion before looking at the animal in her brother’s arms. Eyes widening, she couldn’t help but stare in shock before looking back up at Balthazar. “Here Zoey, cuddle Peaches.”</p><p> </p><p>“No Fluffy Buns?” Zoey said with a small smile.</p><p> </p><p>“I won’t even answer that.” Balthazar mumbled before giving the bunny to his sister to hold. Zoey right away wrapped her arms around Peaches. Holding the bunny close to her chest as she shuddered. Peaches just blinked and wriggled her nose before nuzzling Zoey as if sensing that she was distressed. The blonde looked over at his demon as he made a gesture for Vinnie to grab the chair for him to sit in. Nodding his head, the Incubus grabbed the chair and pulled it over to the couch to sit near the siblings.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar took a seat next to Zoey as he asked “Zoey, I know that this will be difficult for you to go into, but please tell me what happened before you called me.”</p><p> </p><p>A sniffle was heard from his sister. Zoey almost didn’t seem as if she was even going to speak before looking up at her brother. Tears were in her eyes for a brief moment before she looked away. It seemed that it was still hard for her. Balthazar was about to retort but his sister let out a deep shuddering breath before petting the bunny after settling Peaches on her lap. Hoping to have some kind of comfort he guessed.</p><p> </p><p>Tears were starting to fill her eyes before she started to speak. “I went back to the house to see if I could get some more information. I had a book from grandma that she had left lying around. Kinda careless I think.” Zoey gave a small smile before wiping at her eyes. “Some of the information didn’t sound normal to me so I went to see if mom or dad had an idea as to what it was or what it had at least meant.” So she was trying to do more research it seemed. He’ll have to thank her somehow later on.</p><p> </p><p>She wiped at her eyes with her free hand before going back to petting the bunny on her lap. “When I got there, I overheard mom and dad speaking to someone. I don’t know who it was, but I didn’t remember seeing him before.” Zoey said before looking up at Balthazar. It seemed that she was just as confused as Balthazar felt. If it was a new business partner or a new hunter, then their parents wouldn’t have taken on anyone. After all, no one was good enough to be trained by the Cavendish Family line.</p><p> </p><p>“I peeked into the room, I could faintly see someone sitting on one of the chairs in their den just chatting. He was talking about how you have been bewitched by an Incubus like our great aunt had been. He said something about helping to ‘free’ you from the evil creature and mother and father agreed.” Zoey whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>So, someone knew that Balthazar was with Vinnie. Not just that, but what Vinnie was. If someone knew the truth, then there was a good chance that someone would be after him and Vinnie in time. Both the blonde and curly haired men looked at each other for a brief moment before looking back at Zoey. “He also promised that it would end the curse at long last. When mother and father heard that, they agreed to it. Anything to stop the curse that had plagued the family for hundreds of years.”</p><p> </p><p>Someone promised to help with the family curse that has plagued them? Was it even possible to stop that curse in the first place? Plus, there was the fact that there was no way of knowing if it was even a curse in the first place. Maybe just a lot of bad luck on his family’s part?</p><p> </p><p>“Then what happened?” asked Balthazar, his hands clenching at his pant legs as he was trying to think on what had happened.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey took a deep breath before curling up in a ball as best as she could without hurting the bunny on her lap. “I don’t really know what happened. I only know that, he seemed to have transformed and… attacked our parents. I don’t know what he did, but the next minute mother and father were acting weird. It was as if their bodies lost their spirits or something.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar stared with wide eyes. Was that possible? Looking over at Vinnie, he was trying to ask him if that was even possible. Vinnie though was just frozen on the spot, something had hit him it seemed. Though what that was, he didn’t know. It seemed that Balthazar had more research to do later. But for now, he wanted to comfort his sister, just hold her in his arms as she cried.</p><p> </p><p>“After that, I ran away and called you till you answered me.” Zoey said with a sob. Then she looked up at her brother as she asked “How are you even bewitched by an Incubus? You seem normal to me.” Zoey wiped at her eyes as she tilted her head at her brother as she tried to think on what the other man had been talking about.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned before looking up at Vinnie. “Actually, I’m not bewitched but I am in contact with an Incubus.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” His sister asked in confusion.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota, you may as well show her.” Balthazar responded.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes at the two siblings before letting out a soft sigh before pushing himself up onto his feet and walked to the center of the room. He inhaled deeply, on the exhale, his wings emerged from his back. “Vinnie is an Incubus, and apparently he’s been in love with my past lives. The lives of our ancestors that had the pocket watch oddly enough. He was even the one that gave the pocket watch to the first Balthazar. Zoey? Zoey are you okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Zoey fainted.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Oh god Zoey!”</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'M IN THE FINAL STRETCH OF WRITING!!!! the final arc is being written as we speak! (at least when I'm not working haha) and then, uploads will happen quicker (maybe) after that I'll be going on a writers break, read relax and plot out the next fic with Dakota and Cavendish, maybe work on the oneshot that I have in mind next but I MUST finish some other fics that I've had on hold too long. Anyway, I hope you liked this update! Once this story is done, I will go into detail on what the next story will be, as well as the oneshot that I've had in mind for a while.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Voleur d'âme?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Blade wakes up and gives Balthazar the information that he needs to find the creature that attacked. Only to be disappointed in what he found.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Blade groaned a little as he slowly felt consciousness tugging at him. He wasn’t sure what was pulling him this time around, last time he felt a tug he knew that it was Crystal using her abilities. It was just something that he… well, just knew that it was her. After that he had gone back into the abyss of sleep? Darkness? Shadows? He wasn’t sure, though he knew that he felt so exhausted at the time.</p><p> </p><p>Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw that he was in a dark room. Eyes slowly looking around the room as he saw that he was back in his trailer. How did he get here? He didn’t know, though his body felt like it had been ran over a few dozen times.</p><p> </p><p>He tried to move, but he felt a weight against his shoulder, causing the Nekoline to blink his eyes in confusion before he looked down and saw a sight that he hadn’t thought he’d ever see. At least, unless this was a dream? This had to be a dream because there was Crystal, sleeping against his side. Her head resting against his shoulder as she had her arm wrapped around him as she was sound asleep. He also noticed her shoulder had been bandaged up.</p><p> </p><p>Right, she was hurt back at Balthazar’s home but… shouldn’t she have healed by now? How long has he been asleep for anyway?</p><p> </p><p>Reaching over the best he could, Blade carefully ran his fingers through Crystal’s hair. Honestly, he didn’t mind when she looked human, but he still preferred her normal features than anything else. Giving her a small smile, he couldn’t help but sigh softly in content. Honestly, the things that he hadn’t expected was the enemy that they were facing at the time. The way Crystal had been all but cornered, staring with that fear in her eyes?</p><p> </p><p>It irritated him, irked him… pissed him off. He wouldn’t allow her to get hurt so long as he could help it. Yes, she was stabbed at, but he hadn’t reacted quickly enough and felt terrible about it. Blade knew that he had to do something in order to help her, to save her. He would do whatever it took, whatever was in his power to make sure that Crystal survived.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, he’d die for her if it came to that.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he whispered “Did you stay with me the entire time Crystal? Is it a sign that you care about me as much as I care about you?” He closed his eyes and leaned himself closer to her. Wanting to kiss her forehead. Wanting to enjoy this moment because he knew that it would never happen again. Because, once Crystal woke up, she would return to her usual self and act as if nothing happened.</p><p> </p><p>And it would break his heart in the process.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, the door opened, causing Blade to pull himself back from Crystal and look up but squint his eyes as he saw two people walking into his room. Mumbling among themselves.</p><p> </p><p>“You sure Crystal won’t let us near him?” asked one voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes Cav, she won’t let anyone near him. I’ve tried leaving food but she hasn’t eaten I think. Good thing demons don’t actually have to eat to survive.”</p><p> </p><p>“Vincent? Balthazar?” Blade whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh shit you’re awake! Thank god!” Vinnie said with a big grin on his face. Only to frown as he looked around the room, confused as to something that should have been in the room as he looked around. Though his vision wasn’t as good in the dark as Blade’s. Blade almost wanted to laugh a little but kept himself from doing so. “Uh… where’s Crystal?” asked the Incubus.</p><p> </p><p>“She’s right here.” Blade said softly, lifting his one trembling hand that was wrapped around Crystal as he pointed to the body that was next to him. Vinnie gasped in shock, his hands pressing against his cheeks like he was getting ready to cover his mouth to keep himself from squealing out in happiness. Balthazar though just blinked in shock as he stared at the two. “So, what happened?”</p><p> </p><p>Blade frowned a little as he tried to recall everything that had happened. From the moment that they arrived to Balthazar’s home, to before he passed out.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the Nekoline started to explain. “We arrived in a hallway, Crystal was following your sister’s scent to find her.” Closing his eyes for a brief moment, his body still exhausted and just wanted to sleep longer. Though he wasn’t sure if he could sleep yet, he knew that he wouldn’t have a chance to recall all of this so vividly again. Plus, he wanted to enjoy holding Crystal in his arms a little longer, was that so bad?</p><p> </p><p>Using his free hand to rub at his face, his skin still felt clammy to him. Was that normal? “Once we arrived, Crystal called out to your sister and well, when we found her she thought we’d eat her.” Blade chuckled a little at the idea of eating humans. It was actually disgusting, only Ogre based demons or Trolls would eat humans. Otherwise, no other based demons would actually devour a human, unless it was their energy and even then, it wasn’t going to kill a human from the get go.</p><p> </p><p>“I distracted Crystal though, called her the nickname I gave her and she was responding like usual when we were attacked.” Blade hissed a little in anger at the reminder. How Crystal cried out in pain, he tightened his hold on her for a brief moment before taking a deep breath, hoping to calm himself down. He couldn’t allow himself to wake up Crystal. There was no telling what was going to take her, or even just how exhausted she was.</p><p> </p><p>Taking another deep breath, hoping to calm his nerves Blade went on. “Our attacker was some kind of shadow being. I don’t know what it was, I’ve never seen a thing like that before.” Frowning, he added “It had Crystal cornered pretty much and she couldn’t move. I think she was in shock over getting hurt. The weapon was supposed to be blessed but I guess it wasn’t since it didn’t kill her.” He looked over at Vinnie and Balthazar seeing their nervous expressions.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Blade asked, thinking that they were hiding something from him.</p><p> </p><p>“Well you see…” Vinnie began, making Blade narrow his eyes. They were hiding something from him weren’t they? It was about Crystal, he knew that much. But why would they hide it from him in the first place?</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal is half-Celestial. She is immune to blessed weapons, but she can still be hurt but it also seems that her healing slows down when stabbed by such a weapon.” Balthazar calmly explained.</p><p> </p><p>Wait what?</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I was surprised too. Cavendish figured it out with what he had on Crystal’s abilities.” Vinnie said with a smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just rolled his eyes. “We’ll discuss more about that later. Please, continue Blade.”</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, the Nekoline kept going. “I told Crystal to get Zoey to safety, while I distracted that… shadow creature? I have no idea what it was.” He sighed softly, turning his gaze to the sleeping Fire Lycan at his side. “It didn’t matter what I did, my weapon would hit it now and again and just go through it others. I think it can be solid and wispy maybe?” That was honestly the best way he could describe it. Looking back over at the two men in the room, Blade added “Then, I was knocked back and the shadow claimed something about taking my soul or something. Then he placed his hand on my chest and kissed me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Whoa, whoa, whoa… your first kiss, and it was with something that tried to kill you?” Vinnie said, making Blade blush darkly.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, you’ve never been kissed before?” Balthazar questioned.</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up. You can’t say shit since you had taken a long time to admit your feelings for Vincent.” Blade grumbled with a soft pink staining his pale complexion.</p><p> </p><p>“Says the demon that’s been in love with the same woman for what? Almost five hundred years? Give or take?”</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up.” Blade let out an annoyed mew before sighing softly. Looking down at Crystal, he did recall one last memory before completely losing consciousness. “Before I blacked out, I saw a light trying to leave my body from my lips, and Crystal rushing to the shadow. She just… grabbed him. I don’t know what it was that caused it but he screamed in pain and took off. Claiming that he was going to get something that should have been his long ago. I don’t remember if that was something he said before the fight or after Crystal scared him off. My brain was kinda all over the place.” Blade said with a soft sigh before leaning his head against his pillow. Feeling so exhausted.</p><p> </p><p>“That is a bit of information, though I think I have a book that could describe demons as such.” Balthazar calmly explained before turning to Vinnie. “I’m going to return to my trailer. Check on my sister then go through the books.” With that, the blonde left, leaving the Nekoline and Incubus alone.</p><p> </p><p>“I see Crystal had fallen asleep finally.” Vinnie said with a smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“How long has she been here anyway?” asked Blade.</p><p> </p><p>“Few days, she hasn’t left your side. Or even let anyone near you, anytime anyone got near she’d growl at us. Like some kind of feral animal or something, I think she felt bad for what happened, I don’t know how long she’s been asleep though, I don’t know if she’s slept at all till now.” Vinnie responded with a shrug before asking “Want any food? I can go get something for you two then leave you alone to rest more.”</p><p> </p><p>“Something with fish for me, and you know what Crystal would want.” Blade said with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Ugh, don’t know how you can eat fish.”</p><p> </p><p>“Nekoline, pretty much a giant cat remember?” Blade responded.</p><p> </p><p>Rolling his eyes, Vinnie nodded as he started to walk off. “Yeah, yeah I know.” With that, he left.</p><p> </p><p>Blade smiled a little before looking back down at Crystal. She snuggled herself a little closer to Blade, letting out a soft sigh of content. Her body heat was a little higher than usual, though Blade didn’t mind. It was warm, and very comforting though at the same time he wondered if she was doing this as a means of comfort to him, or if this was how she normally was when she was asleep. He didn’t know but he wasn’t going to complain.</p><p> </p><p>Yawning softly, he drifted off to sleep, burying his face against the Fire Lycan’s hair as he let out a soft sigh of contentment. Yeah, he could get used to this, assuming that Crystal would even allow this to happen again. Because, when would he ever have another chance at something like this? Highly unlikely.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked over at the books on the shelves in the hopes of finding something that would help Blade in his recovery, but also in identify the creature that had attacked his family home. It just didn’t make sense that an unknown creature would have attacked his family home, as well as the creature trying to help ‘stop’ the so called ‘curse’ that has plagued his family for centuries. He had no idea, but he hoped that it was something that he could find.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, he grabbed a hold of a few books that was interesting or that he had hoped that it would be enough to help the blonde with his research.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he looked over at his bedroom, seeing that it was closed once again. Zoey hadn’t really left the room since she learned that Vinnie was an Incubus. Sure, she’d leave now and again when it came to eating, or when she would have to use the bathroom or shower. But that was about it, and Balthazar wasn’t sure what to do. Zoey kept to herself, most likely trying to process everything that had happened this week alone.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, the young man made his way over to the couch as he tried to look over the book. Right now, he wanted to focus on trying to find on how to help Blade. So far, it had been rather difficult to do much for the man. Since, Crystal had ensured that no one could even go near Blade.</p><p> </p><p>It was as if she had gone into some kind of feral state while Blade was unconscious. It was so strange that he was even in such a state in the first place. But then again, whatever that creature had done, it had to have worn him out to the point that he had to sleep through the worse of it. Though for Crystal to act like that? It made him wonder if it had anything to do with her Fire Lycan nature.</p><p> </p><p>Hm, did he read something like that when he was doing research on Crystal’s heritage? He couldn’t really recall but he felt like he had seen it somewhere before.</p><p> </p><p>Shrugging his shoulders, the young man opened the book as he leaned back. Normally he’d prefer to be at his desk, but sadly his desk was in his bedroom, and he couldn’t go in there. Not wanting to bother his sister when she was still trying to relax and of course sort out her own thoughts and feelings. So, his couch would have to do.</p><p> </p><p>Flipping the pages, Balthazar frowned as he tried to find the page for Nekoline. It almost seemed as if there was nothing for the blonde to discover. Was a Nekoline rare or ever even been filed? Or maybe he had the wrong book. Just as he was about to set the book down, he saw what he was looking for.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Nekoline</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Nekolines are known to be a warrior class demon. They have clans that work in a way, as ‘guards’ for hire or even just hired for simple jobs that require the skills that they have in their skillset. They may be like giant cats, such as having fantastic night vision, desire for fish and can get high off of catnip. Even though they are known as warriors, tough as nails and only seem to care about the task at hand, they do have one other thing that tends to separate them compared to most demons.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Once they find ‘the one’ for them, all of their affection is for that person. The only one that could make them smile, make them purr and would do anything for that person. Even if it would result in their own deaths, they would gladly do so if it meant seeing the person they chose be happy. Though, if they feel like the one they have chosen doesn’t feel the same, they won’t mention their love, and keep it to themselves and just enjoy being around the one they love. Another thing that they do, is that they aren’t just protective, but also very possessive of the one they love.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Though, the one benefit of their love is that when they are wounded/hurt/unconscious they would prefer to be in close proximity to the one they chose as their chosen’s energy is enough to help them heal along rather quickly if their own energy can’t heal them quickly enough. They aren’t aware of the energy transfer, or even feeling their energy going to the injured. Once the injured has recovered, they would either act as if nothing had happened for the sake of their chosen, or admit their feelings. Nekolines can either be social creatures in their clan, or living their lives in solitude.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>It depends on the demon in question.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Interesting, so Blade was actually taking energy from Crystal while he was recovering. That is something that would come in handy, though he couldn’t help but feel a little curious as to how that would even work. How wouldn’t they even notice the energy drain unless it doesn’t take much for the one in question to notice? That would make sense, though if that was also the case then maybe he didn’t have to do more digging for Blade after all.</p><p> </p><p>Because if he was taking energy from Crystal while asleep, and she had been sitting by his side the entire time then he wouldn’t need anything else. Maybe a good meal, but that’s it. He couldn’t help but chuckle a little at that before going over the bit about Nekolines being protective and possessive over the ones they love.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Would explain a few things for sure…’</em> thought Balthazar before closing the book.</p><p> </p><p>Now, he had to find something that would help him figure out what it was that had attacked his family, and his friends. Balthazar knew that he had to find something, anything that would give him an idea as to what had attacked his family, his friends and of course what could be used to stop it once and for all. He had to be able to do something, anything that could help but he wasn’t sure if that would be enough.</p><p> </p><p>Tightly shutting his eyes, he kept thinking back to what Blade had said. The Nekoline had said that it had felt like his soul was trying to leave his body, and then there was what the creature had said. Something about taking Blade’s soul, so what did that mean? That the creature could actually steal souls? It wasn’t possible but then again, could be a new creature or even had been put in the books, but hadn’t been seen much.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, the blonde went to the shelves once again, trying to find something, anything that would give any kind of indication as to what the creature was. He just didn’t know what to do. Every single book that he owned, either didn’t have it, or he didn’t understand it because it was in a language that he didn’t understand.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a frustrated groan, the young man dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. (Glasses of course are up to his forehead from the action) It just seemed as if he had hit another brick wall. This was just getting frustrating and he wanted to hit something. Anything that would give him an idea as to what was happening. Or what wasn’t happening? He didn’t know at this point!</p><p> </p><p>“Balthy?”</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes, lowering his hands as he looked over toward the door as he saw his sister now out of the bedroom. Still in her pajamas as she frowned at her brother in concern. “Yes Zoey?” though honestly, he was just happy that she was out and about right now. Even if she was just out of the room for something small then he would still take it!</p><p> </p><p>“I… what are you doing?” she asked with a frown on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m trying to find information on the demon that attacked our family and Blade.” Balthazar replied before looking down at the floor. Honestly, he just didn’t know what to do in order to find the right book. Or what he was even looking for in the first place. It just seemed impossible at this point. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to find anything or even get an idea as to how to defeat it if it’s after something his family have.</p><p> </p><p>Then with only Zoey and Balthazar left of the family? There is no telling what would happen, which only had him all the more worried.</p><p> </p><p>“Can I ask you something Balthazar?” asked Zoey.</p><p> </p><p>She used his full name, she <em>never</em> uses his full name unless he was in trouble with her like when he took her dolls when they were kids. Or when he wouldn’t let her have a cookie because it would have spoiled her dinner when it was just the two of them while their parents were out on a hunt. Looking over at his sister, he blinked his eyes as he asked “What… what is it?”</p><p> </p><p>The young woman before him looked down at the floor, deep in thought as she was trying to think of the right question. It just seemed as if this was something that has been bothering her for days. Zoey peeked up through her lashes as she stared at her older brother. “Are you really in love with Vinnie Dakota? Even though he’s an Incubus?”</p><p> </p><p>Was that what was bothering her so much the last few days? Had she really been wondering if he was actually in love with Vinnie? Frowning, the young man made his way over to his sister as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Zoey…”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s just that, you hated him! You thought he was selfish for so long and then you became friends then… you started to love him right? You knew he was an Incubus and still…” Zoey frowned all the more as she looked up at her brother, trying to get her thought process through but it seemed that she was stuck, unable to get the right words out. “How can I be sure that you aren’t under some kind of spell? You were always so terrified of demons to the point that you wanted to hunt and kill them now you’re dating one?”</p><p> </p><p>He could understood why she was acting like this. The young woman before him was just concerned because of how he was his entire life till now. That he never wanted to get close to a demon in such matters because as a future hunter, he was to hunt and kill them. Not date one, not love one, and not be happy with one.</p><p> </p><p>Yet he had done all of that.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man took his hand back from her shoulder as he calmly said “Zoey, I won’t lie its very complicated.” She frowned while staring at him. “What I will say though, I did start to develop feelings for Dakota but couldn’t react upon them at first.” He sighed softly before adding “I didn’t even learn what he was till my birthday. He was starving, hadn’t fed from a human properly for hundreds of years.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” She whispered in shocked awe.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, the blonde calmly said “Turns out, he’s been in love with the Balthazar’s of our family history, as well as our great aunt Katherina. As it so happens, that I’ve been reincarnated and due to my soul’s constant exposure to him, I’m immune to his charm.” Chuckling a little before adding in. “It had taken a lot of time for me to accept my feelings for him. Dakota has been nothing but patient for me and once I saw sides to him that showed me he wasn’t really a monster, but an honest person who can love and has loved me for a very long time. I knew that I could love him back.”</p><p> </p><p>Zoey frowned a little more before asking “So, you’re happy? Like, really, really happy?”</p><p> </p><p>“I am, for the first time I’m actually happy to be with someone who loves me for me. Not for my money, not for my status, not for anything but for who I am.” Balthazar calmly said before letting out a dreamy sigh as he thought about his… boyfriend? His demon? He wasn’t sure if they were actually seen as boyfriends or if demons even had boyfriends/girlfriends or whatever. He wasn’t sure, though he knew that he’d take what he could get.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man smiled down at his sister as he asked “Can you be happy for me though Zoey? Even though the one I love is a demon?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah… I was just worried that you were being controlled into loving him. That’s all.” Zoey said with a smile on her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you.” He kissed her forehead before turning back to the books and sighed softly. “This isn’t going to be fun at all.” He mumbled while staring at the books. He was happy that he and his sister cleared things up, but now he was stuck trying to find a race that he wasn’t sure what to even look for in the first place. He wasn’t there, so Balthazar knew that trying to find the race was going to be near impossible for him.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you looking for?” asked Zoey.</p><p> </p><p>“You see, Blade told me some information from when he and Crystal were trying to get you to safety. Said something about it like the creature was trying to steal his soul or something. As if there is really a creature that is a soul stealer.” Balthazar rolled his eyes at the last part. There just seemed to be no possible way for there to be a creature as such. It just didn’t seem possible yet there it was.</p><p> </p><p>“Soul stealer…” Zoey whispered softly, causing Balthazar to look down.</p><p> </p><p>“Pardon?”</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, I remembered something.” Zoey said before rushing to the bookshelves. She was holding up her index finger to the spines of the books while going over each one. Then she smiled before finding the book that she was looking for and pulled it out. Flipping through the pages till she found what it was that she was looking for. “Here! This is it I think.”</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, he looked at the book as he saw the race that she was referring to.</p><p> </p><p>“Voleur d'âme?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s French for ‘Soul Stealer’.” Zoey said with a roll of her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.”</p><p> </p><p>Looking back at the book, Balthazar frowned a little as he looked over at the information.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Voleur d'âme</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Creatures made of shadow, having both no physical form, but also possessing a physical form. They have been around since the dawn of time, but have almost never been seen. As their name states, they are Soul Stealers, but have been discovered in France around the time of its founding. It is said that they steal souls in order to survive, and to give them a physical form. The souls they steal though, can only last them for as long as a human life span is. Each time the soul wears out, they are to grab a new one in order to maintain a human form.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>Because of how rare they are, and no one is able to track them due to their ability to lose their physical form they cannot be hunted. Nor, can they be defeated as they have no known weakness.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Due to that, no one can ever hunt, or destroy their kind as no one can discover their weakness or, use it. Many hunters have tried and failed to hunt and kill them. But have been the ones hunted in the end. It is said though, that the souls they steal, they can use the soulless husks to do their bidding, or leave them in a comatose state till their body eventually dies.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Advice is to leave them be, and never go after them. Because you will be as good as dead.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar could only stare with wide eyes. There was no known weakness? If this was what was really attacking his family home then… what were they to do? It was after something, and whatever it was, Balthazar knew that it had to do with him or his family. But… with there being no known weakness… could they even win or should they just keep running?</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I've had that planned out for a while, couldn't find another term for Soul Stealer so I used a translator to have it translated into French, not sure if its actual French or Canadian French or what. So I'm hoping you like this, and there are still more surprises to be shared before this story is wrapped up. Hoping that you like the rest of the story.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Wings and Angry Fighting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar learns about his demon's wings, and watch a fight take place between Crystal and Blade.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Letting out a soft sigh, Balthazar had decided to spend some of his time with Vinnie today. He had figured that maybe it was best to give his sister some more time alone for the time being. She had been through an ordeal but, he also couldn’t help but be a little curious as to what it was that she was doing in his room.</p><p> </p><p>Running a hand through his hair, the young man looked up at the trailer that housed his demon. Opening the door, he calmly said “Vinnie, I hope you don’t mind me coming in? I’m giving Zoey some more time… alone…” Balthazar trailed off as he stared at the scene before him with wide eyes.</p><p> </p><p>There was Vinnie, standing in nothing but a towel as he was sweeping up at a few feathers. Sure, Balthazar had seen a scene like this before but now, it didn’t bother him since he had well, seen everything already. He felt his mouth go dry, trying to think of the scene before him or at least… trying to remember how to breathe.</p><p> </p><p>“Hm?” Vinnie hummed as he turned around, wait were his wings out? Yeah, they were out as they flapped slightly as if confused. “Oh hey Balthazar, what brings you by? I was just flapping my wings a bit to try to get some strength in them.” He chuckled a little before he set the broom aside as he made his way over to his boyfriend, holding onto the towel while he had a big smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping, Balthazar blinked his eyes as he tried to think of the reason why he came by. Why did he come again? Oh right. “I thought I’d give my sister some time to herself. She’s still having a rather hard time it seems. I sometimes still hear her crying in her sleep but I can’t get in the room. She locks it when she sleeps.” Which was true, Zoey had started to lock the door, most likely to keep herself safe but would it really keep her safe from a creature that could lose his physical form at will?</p><p> </p><p>“Makes sense, she was through a lot.” Vinnie said as he made his wings recede into his back. He let out a shudder at the sensation before taking a deep breath. “Make yourself comfortable, I’m gonna throw on some clothes and we can just relax and watch a movie or something.” The demon said with a smile before he made his way toward his room and closed the door.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar chuckled a little before he sat down. Making himself comfortable. Though he couldn’t help but think on how far Vinnie’s training had come so far. His wings didn’t bother him when he brought his wings back in, though he couldn’t really say much when his wings would come out. Vinnie seemed like he didn’t feel pain when summoning his wings but that was about all he could see. There was no telling if he was at a hundred percent yet, but he hoped that he would be.</p><p> </p><p>Though, thinking about his wings, it made Balthazar think back to what he had read about the Incubi. It made him think about how they act when their wings are touched/petted. Then of course, when he and Vinnie first started their training. How Vinnie had managed to keep his composure when Balthazar had pet his wings while in his ‘trance’ as it were.</p><p> </p><p>Hm, that would be something that he would have to ask Vinnie when he emerged from his bedroom.</p><p> </p><p>It was something that had him curious though, the way Vinnie had acted during the hand to hand training. He had been far more touchy feely when it came to that. Made Balthazar believe it had something to do with that. Maybe? He wasn’t sure, though he wanted answers, just wasn’t sure how that would be.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, the door opened and Vinnie came walking out wearing his usual attire. He was running his hands through his curly hair, it would bounce back in place though he just kept trying to… fluff it perhaps? “So, what movie do you wanna watch today?” asked Vinnie before he plopped himself next to the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>That was actually a good question. Though he wasn’t sure what kind of movie would keep his attention at the moment. His thoughts were clouded with nothing but wanting information and his main focus was his demon’s wings of all things. Why was he so enthralled by them?</p><p> </p><p>“Uh… Cavendish? You okay? Did I lose you or something?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, I’m just lost in thought.” Balthazar admitted before looking over at the TV. Trying to think that maybe he would be able to ask Vinnie about the wings aspect of what had happened. Slowly, he lifted his gaze up to the man as he asked “I actually have a question for you, about your wings.” Vinnie frowned a little at that. It seemed that he hadn’t expected Balthazar to have any other questions about the demon’s abilities or well, anything for that matter.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay? What do you wanna know?” Vinnie questioned with a tilt of his head.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, you see while I was doing research for Crystal’s heritage I found some information on Incubi and it mentioned how your wings can be very sensitive.” Balthazar calmly said before he looked over at Vinnie and saw that the Incubus’ face was beat red. Raising an eyebrow, the blonde calmly said “Unless, the knowledge is wrong? Since you didn’t really react much when I had pet your wings like the book said you would.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie groaned as he rubbed at his face. Letting out a soft sigh, the Incubus lowered his hand to his chin as he stared at the blonde before him. “You see Cav.” Okay he looked exhausted or at the very least worried it seemed. Though he couldn’t be sure as to why that would be. Was this a sign that he was going to break up with him? No, that couldn’t be it, not after all Vinnie had gone through just to be with him.</p><p> </p><p>All the time he’s spent mourning over the loss of the past Balthazar’s and his great aunt Katherina. There is no way that he would already tire of him right?</p><p> </p><p>“I never wanted you to know because I was worried about you freaking out.” Vinnie said, making Balthazar blink his eyes in confusion.</p><p> </p><p>“Pardon?”</p><p> </p><p>“See, because our relationship is still kinda new and all I didn’t want to freak you out.” Vinnie explained with a frown on his face before letting out a soft sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sure, we already fucked and all but, I was worried that you would freak out should I react to when you would… or should, pet or touch my wings.” Turning his gaze, now without his glasses, onto the blonde man next to him Vinnie went on. “You see, it had taken a good deal of my own self-control in order to keep myself from well… just grabbing you, pinning you to the floor-“</p><p> </p><p>“Which you kind of did during training.” Balthazar pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, yeah, but I at least didn’t try to fuck you on the floor. Anyway, thanks to all of my self-control over the years I only ended up doing minor things. Ya know, touching, kissing your wrist and just pining you and nothing more.” Vinnie calmly said before shrugging his shoulders as he let out a soft sigh. His blue and amber eyes stared at the blonde as he was trying to think on what he was to say, on what he was to do when it came to the blonde, he couldn’t help but admit whatever he could to Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>It seemed that Vinnie wasn’t going to lie to him or at least keep things from him. Their relationship shouldn’t be based on lies or secrets anymore.</p><p> </p><p>“Our wings have very sensitive nerve endings. But mostly feel pleasure more than pain ya know? Say if you plucked a feather from me, I’d feel more joy than pain. Stabbing on the other hand, while it would feel like someone flicking me at first, I would just feel pleasure from it. Just not for the pain. Though, our wings can also be used as a shield if we wanted to. Though, pain would be the first thing we’d feel until it would dull into well… pleasure but we can easily ignore that depending on the situation.” Vinnie explained, the one part didn’t really make sense to Balthazar. Though he felt like that he could easily understand it for the most part, but it still baffled him.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, so what happens when you brush your wings to remove your loose feathers?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, it doesn’t work when I touch it. It’s kinda like when you try to tickle yourself, it doesn’t work. After all, can’t really feed from myself.” Vinnie said with a chuckle before looking back at the TV that was before him.</p><p> </p><p>Now it just Balthazar curious. He wanted to see just how strong Vinnie’s resolve was or at least his strength of will. Blushing at the thought of such a thought coursing through his mind, he asked “May I brush your wings?”</p><p> </p><p>“Cav, I just went over explaining-“</p><p> </p><p>“I know, but I know you won’t hurt me though Vinnie.”</p><p> </p><p>Groaning, Vinnie covered his face as he let out a soft sigh. Turning his gaze over toward Balthazar, the Incubus calmly said “I still don’t think it’s a good idea. Plus, I already brushed my wings. So there shouldn’t be any reason to-“</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar pressed the back of Vinnie’s neck. The Incubus yelped out in shock as his wings sprung out, knocking the demon onto the floor with a whine. “Did you really have to do that?! Come on!” Vinnie glared over his shoulder, though it wasn’t a very angry, perhaps amused more than anything. “Do you really have to get your own way?”</p><p> </p><p>“I think after the teasing you put me through during training is enough reason to allow me this little enjoyment don’t you think?” Balthazar said with a chuckle and a big smile upon his face.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie though merely rolled his eyes before his wings folded against his back. “Fine, my wing brush is just over there.” He said, getting onto his feet before he sat back down on the couch. Hand now rubbing at his face, as if he was mentally preparing himself. Balthazar was starting to think if he was going too far with this.</p><p> </p><p>Biting his lower lip, Balthazar asked “Do… do you hate the idea of me brushing your wings?” He was starting to feel guilt washing over him. Making him think that maybe he was just doing too far like this. Was this just pushing Vinnie to do something that he didn’t want? “I mean, is this something that you don’t want to happen because…”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not that.” Vinnie sighed softly before looking up at Balthazar. The blonde frowned a little as he stared at the Incubus. “I’m just worried that I may hurt you is all. Incubi can be really rough when it comes to their wings being touched, more so when it’s with someone they love. What if I hurt you while lost in my senses? I don’t want to hurt you, especially since you’re human.”</p><p> </p><p>Oh, guess he’s never thought of that before. With Vinnie being a demon in a way, he would be far stronger and faster than Balthazar. That was a given, when the demon had first fed from Balthazar while Vinnie was in a feeding frenzy. “Perhaps, we could try it slowly? Say, I brush your wings, if you start to feel overwhelmed, just let me know and I shall stop to let you collect yourself.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie hummed a little, before nodding his head. “Alright.” He said with a chuckle, it seemed that he liked the idea. So that had to mean something at the very least. Smiling, Balthazar picked up the feather brush, honestly it looked like a normal hair brush but at the same time the bristles were smooth, most likely just too smooth out the stray feathers.</p><p> </p><p>Shrugging to himself, the blonde made his way over to the Incubus. Once he took a seat, the young man asked “Can you spread out your wings? It’ll make it easier to brush.” Vinnie did as asked, spreading out his wings, honestly they were rather majestic. Taking in a few deep breaths, hoping to calm himself while carefully he started to brush his demon’s wings.</p><p> </p><p>Mostly starting with the left wing. They were so soft, and warm… Balthazar hadn’t thought that they could be this warm. Vinnie shuddered a little, wings fluttering the slightest bit as he tried to keep himself to calm down. “You okay?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah… I’m okay.” Vinnie squeaked his voice sounding a little shaky. Breathing deeply, the demon tried to keep himself in control. Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little, unsure if he was going too far with this yet or not. He kept brushing his demon’s wings, feeling just how soft it really was while he would reach out and pet his demon’s wings himself.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie shuddered and moaned, feathers fluttering on his wings as if he was trying to keep himself in control. Balthazar had to admit, Vinnie had a great deal of self-control but even he had to have some kind of limit. One that he almost wanted to test but, knew that today wasn’t that day.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing in deeply, the young man finished with the one wing and went to work on the next one. It went much like the other one, Vinnie of course let out a whine as he was trying to keep himself in control over everything. Just as Balthazar finished, he was about to set the brush aside till his demon grabbed a hold of his wrist. The brush went flying from his hand and onto the floor. “Huh?”</p><p> </p><p>The demon took in some deep breaths, pinning Balthazar to the couch, eyes aglow with what the blonde could best describe as hunger. It’s been a while since Vinnie’s eyes glowed like that. “Vinnie?” Balthazar whispered softly with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie was breathing deeply, saliva dripping down his teeth and mere inches from the blonde. Wings fluttering and shuddering, either from excitement, or trying to regain his composure. He couldn’t be sure though the Incubus wasn’t doing anything else. “Vinnie, are you okay?” Balthazar questioned, the first time he had seen the glowing eyes they had scared him but now? Just made him think that they merely enchanted his beauty.</p><p> </p><p>The Incubus tightly shut his eyes, as well as clenched his jaw. Taking a few deep shuddering breaths, he whispered “Sorry, I think my Incubus nature is screaming at me to feed from you from the constant contact.” Was this his way of saying that his strength of will wasn’t as strong as he thought he was? “I’m just gonna… get up and pull my wings back-“</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar didn’t allow him to move. Instead, the blonde pulled Vinnie down and kissed him passionately. It had been a while since they had any kind of entertainment so to speak. He just wanted to enjoy some time with his… again, unsure if they are boyfriends at this point or just hunter and his demon.</p><p> </p><p><em>“Blade, you are going to get the ass whooping of a life time!”</em> shouted Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked as he pulled back. Turning to the door as he tilted his head, curious it seemed as to what was going on. “Vinnie?” Balthazar questioned, unsure as to what was going on right now. Though the smile that slowly grew upon his demon’s face, told the blonde that something was going to happen. “What’s going on?” asked the young man as he was unsure as to what was going to happen right now. Before he could say more, Vinnie jumped up from the couch, wings receding into his back before he grabbed his glasses.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, we’re gonna have some entertainment. Crystal it seems is gonna get back at Blade for how he got himself hurt when they went to get your sister.” Vinnie said with a big grin on his face before he grabbed a hold of the blonde. “Now come on! We’re not going to want to miss this! Oh! We should bring drinks! And snacks! Maybe some popcorn to go with it! Oh, so many choices... the many choices." The Incubus almost looked like he was about to salivate at the idea of choices.</p><p> </p><p>“Um… Dakota?” May as well go back to using their last names as the moment was gone. There was no recovering that moment for the time being so maybe it was best to just best to go along with this for the time being. Before he could even speak over the kinds of snacks that they would get, Vinnie was already dragging the blonde out the door of his trailer. “Dakota?!” Balthazar yelped out in shock and confusion.</p><p> </p><p>“We are <em>not</em> going to miss this!” Vinnie declared with a big grin on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“How is she even going to do this in the first place?! She can’t use her full strength or power out in the open!” Balthazar pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but we have another dojo rented out for us. I figured you and me could have an ‘us’ day should it come down to it. Or, if we wanted we could have gone to train my wings more or even just to work on our hand to hand combat skills.” Vinnie said with glee. A faint blush stained his face before he looked over his shoulder as he said “Now come on, we are not missing this. It’s the only time we could ever a chance to watch this kind of a fight.”</p><p> </p><p>In some weird way he had a point. Crystal had been worried sick over Blade’s health since they came back from the Cavendish Manor. Even after Blade woke up, she had made sure not to allow him to do anything too strenuous that was for sure. Though it seemed that she had deemed him healthy enough to do… something. Whatever it was, he Balthazar had no idea, though he had a feeling that he knew what was going to happen and it involved the two of them fighting right now.</p><p> </p><p>Though he just hoped that it didn’t end with either demons getting hurt.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Upon arriving at the dojo, Crystal having pretty much dragged the Nekoline to the building itself. Balthazar and Vinnie of course were not far behind. Wanting to make sure that the Fire Lycan didn’t do anything that would hurt Blade. Taking a deep breath, the young man ran a hand through his hair while trying to imagine the kind of battle that was going to take place. There was so many things that was going to happen, or could happen.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie on the other hand, was just singing to himself about the fight that was going to take place. The young man just rolled his eyes as he tried to think on what it could happen during the battle when it took place. “Dakota, they aren’t going to use their weapons are they?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“No, since Blade is most likely not at a hundred percent yet, Crystal is most likely just going to have them use their hands.” Vinnie explained with a chuckle before he looked around the room and frowned a little as he was trying to find something. Tilting his head a little, the Incubus frowned a little before grinned. Releasing his hold over the blonde, the demon made his way over to the side of the room and grabbed a couple chairs before making his way back to the confused man that just didn’t know what was going to happen.</p><p> </p><p>Raising an eyebrow at the demon before him, Balthazar calmly asked “So, what is this whole thing going to entail?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, just Crystal beating the shit out of Blade. Though this is how she lets out her emotions sometimes. She tends to keep things bottled up and can’t really let it out unless she’s fighting.” Vinnie rubbed at the back of his neck with a frown on his face. Balthazar never knew that, sure he knew that Crystal tends to let her anger out in a physical means such as shoving both demons out of the trailers but in this mind of a manor? Well he hadn’t thought that to be possible before.</p><p> </p><p>Made him wonder just how much anger she had kept bottled up right now. Or, if it was even anger that was building up within her right now. There could be anything more that no one could really understand though maybe it was a good thing to watch? Just not for the entertainment that Vinnie was thinking about.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, it’s about to start!” Vinnie said with a grin on his face before sitting down and nearly squealed out in delight at the possibility of seeing a fight.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar just rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wondered how he was in love with this man but let out a soft sigh before taking the empty seat next to his demon.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal narrowed her eyes at Blade. The Nekoline just stared at the Fire Lycan with a frown on his face. It seemed that he had no idea what was going on this time around. The woman snarled a little before rushing forward and threw punch after punch. Blade of course just merely dodged or would even catch Crystal’s strikes. Even throwing her back a couple times in the hopes of just getting her worn down.</p><p> </p><p>The woman snarled a little before getting her hands up in a defensive position. She was moving around Blade, as if trying to catch him off guard. Though she knew that it wouldn’t be that easy to do so. All of the pent up emotions, it was obvious that she was holding up a lot of emotional baggage right now. Everyone knew that it wasn’t good for her own mental health to do so with how much emotions that she would feel around her on a daily bases.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but frown at the sight. Blade just shook his head at Crystal. The Fire Lycan snarled once again before jumping at Blade with her hands held out. Claws replacing her human fingernails. Blade though just side stepped as he sighed softly. This was something that no one was preparing himself for.</p><p> </p><p>The Nekoline just let out a soft sigh before digging his hands into his pockets. “I’m not fighting you puppy. You aren’t in the right state of mind. You are fighting out your emotions again.” Blade said with concern in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up! Stop calling me puppy damn it! That’s the reason why you got hurt in the first place!” shouted Crystal as she jumped in the air. Sending a kick at Blade, who grunted in pain, though had managed to grab her ankle and narrowed his eyes at her. He let out a soft hiss before tossing her aside, though not rough enough for any serious damage to be done.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal flipped through the air as she pressed her feet against the wall, and shot off toward Blade like a bullet. Sparks of flames surrounded her body while holding her hand back while her claws ignited in crimson flames. “Fine, so be it puppy, if you aren’t going to see logic then I’ll fight back.” Blade said with a shake of his head.</p><p> </p><p>Getting himself into a fighting position, Blade knew that he was going to have to fight his friend if she wasn’t going to see logic right now. She was fighting based on pure emotion and that would blind anyone. Letting out a yowl, the Nekoline jumped back from Crystal’s attack. Spinning on his heel as he sent a kick at the woman. A yelp was heard as Crystal slammed into the wall. Seeming that she hadn’t expected Blade to fight back since he had been ignoring the battle.</p><p> </p><p>Blade narrowed his eyes, they glowed a bright yellow before he rushed forward with such amazing speed. Though, he was still slower than he usually was. The Nekoline threw a punch at Crystal as he hissed. She would catch his punch and throw one herself. They would throw each other back and both of them would rush forward once again only to find themselves thrown to the walls of the dojo.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the dark haired man could only stare at Crystal who was trying to catch her breath. He could see the pain in her eyes. That was easy to see, the way she just stared at him. Anger, pain, fear… all of them swirled within the depths of her eyes. The Fire Lycan snarled once again before rushing toward Blade, holding her fist back.</p><p> </p><p>The Nekoline knew that this fight shouldn’t have been like this. That she was only trying to let out emotions that she was holding close to herself. To prevent herself from feeling what she was feeling, whatever it was he didn’t know. Though knew that he had to get this to stop. Keeping all of these emotions pent up like this was only going to hurt her in the long run.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, Blade just dodged the attack in the hopes that maybe if he stopped fighting now that she would see things his way right now. Though at the same time, Crystal was rather stubborn, and wouldn’t just stop for anything though at the same time he knew that this may be the only way to do so. Slowly, he turned himself around as he saw the woman flip through the air once again, landing on the wall before rushing at Blade once again.</p><p> </p><p>“Go Crystal!” shouted Vinnie from the sidelines. Balthazar of course just slapped his hand on his forehead. It seemed that only one of the two could see what was really going on right now.</p><p> </p><p>Blade could only roll his eyes before looking over at Crystal just as she landed on the ground. Smoke and dust circled around the two of them. Yet the Nekoline didn’t move from his spot, just closed his eyes from the dust/smoke cloud that seemed to have been caused by Crystal’s flames creating the smoke in the area.</p><p> </p><p>When the smoke cleared, and he opened his eyes, there was Crystal, her fist mere millimeters from his face, and her head was tilted downward. Not wanting to face him it seemed. Though he figured that the trembling of her fist was most likely having restrained herself from trying to hurt him it seemed. At least compared to how she had nearly tried to moments ago. Unless she was starting to see that it was futile in trying to cause him harm when he wasn’t even at a hundred percent back in health right now.</p><p> </p><p>Blade just stared at Crystal, trying to think on what he was to say until he noticed something. He saw that her fist was trembling, gritting her teeth as she was trying to keep her emotions in check again. Trying to keep her emotions all bottled up again. That would only cause her more harm in the long run, though he knew that she couldn’t keep herself composed once again.</p><p> </p><p>“Why…?” Was all Crystal managed to say before she just looked up at him. That was when Blade noticed the tears in her eyes, his eyes widened in shock at the sight that was before him. How was it that her pain had gone this far? He hasn’t seen Crystal cry her own tears since Vinnie’s parents were killed. To see her tears now? He was in shock and felt pain encasing his heart in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Why what?” was all he could ask.</p><p> </p><p>A sniffle was heard, which only made him feel all the worse just hearing such a sound. “Why did you risk your life for mine?” Crystal whispered, her arm dropping to her side before she stood up straight. Her head tilted downward once again, making Blade want to reach out to her and hold her in his arms but knew that she couldn’t let everything out if he held her. That would be really destructive for the woman before him.</p><p> </p><p>Blade took a deep breath as he calmly said “Why wouldn’t I want to keep you safe?” Crystal looked up at him with a frown on her face. A frown didn’t belong there, he knew that more than anyone though knew that this was a conversation that has needed to happen for far too long.</p><p> </p><p>“No, you shouldn’t want to keep me safe! I’m nothing!” Blade blinked his eyes in confusion on that one. Okay, that was something he hadn’t expected to hear from her. “My life means nothing to anyone! Come on Blade, my mother left!” He was told that it was due to her mother being unable to stay or she would disappear. “My father was taken away from me!” That was out of her control though. “Then my adoptive parents died! I bring nothing but pain and suffering for the people that I end up caring for or who care for me!”</p><p> </p><p>Did she really feel like this? Now he felt like a real jerk for now noticing such a thing in the first place. He couldn’t help but frown a little before taking a step toward her before he saw Crystal shaking her head. When she lifted her head to stare at him, Blade noticed the tears streaming down her face. “Of all people in the world, why do you care about me?! There are bound to be other people that you can care about! Someone that is far better for you than me! A better friend! A better fighter… a better…”</p><p> </p><p>Sobs started to wreck her body as she shook and trembled from her own pain as it seemed to encase her. Blade clenched his hands into tight fists. This ends now, knowing that this was the end of her own self-doubt and self-hatred for herself.</p><p> </p><p>Making his way to her, the Nekoline placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him in confusion. “Crystal.” Blade started, making her frown at him before he reached up and wiped away at her tears. The woman flinched a little at first before seeming to lean into his touch for the most part but kept herself from closing her eyes as she just gazed up at him. “I would give up my life, over and over again if it means that I can keep you safe.”</p><p> </p><p>“But why?” Crystal frowned. “My life means-“</p><p> </p><p>“It means everything. To me, not having you in my life would make it an empty one. You are everything to me and so much more.” Blade said with a small smile on his face before leaning forward and just gave her a brighter smile. “Because I love you Crystal. I have for a long time. You should know that, after all my life is empty without you but… what do you feel for me? Why are you upset about me protecting you now of all times?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because I didn’t know what I had until I almost lost you.” Crystal admitted before wrapping her arms around the Nekoline with a sniffle. Blade smiled and hugged her back before pulling back and gave her a small smile.</p><p> </p><p>The two demons blinked at each other for a brief moment before leaning closer and closer to each other before both sharing a long awaiting kissing.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked his eyes as he stared at the two of them. Yup, now was a good time to leave. Turning his gaze over to Balthazar, he saw that the man was rather wrapped up in what was happening before them. “What’s happening? Did they just confess their feelings finally?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Acting quickly, the demon got up and covered the blonde’s eyes. “What the? Dakota what the devil are you doing?” asked Balthazar as he tried to pull the demon’s hands away from his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re too pure for this Cavendish, just far too pure for the scene that is to happen before you. Let’s get back to the trailer and relax with a good movie okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“But what’s-“</p><p> </p><p>“Not now alright?” Vinnie said before dragging the blonde back toward the demon’s trailer.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, he figured that this was going to happen at some point. But had thought that it would have happened much earlier. Not after only four hundred years or so. He wasn’t sure how long really, lost track of time at this point.</p><p> </p><p>Though, right now was a good time to spend some time with his human. Cuddling and then watch some good movies and enjoy each other’s company and maybe some fun of their own. At the moment, he would just be happy to enjoy what time he could with Balthazar, because now his one objective was to figure out what had happened at Balthazar’s home and wondered if… somehow this was all connected to the past lives deaths.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yup, finally Blade tells Crystal and its returned, the final arc is coming up</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Talks and Discoveries of the Past</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Vinnie talks to Zoey to make sure that she was okay with him being with her brother. As for Balthazar, he gets a really creepy phone call and a frightening discovery.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vinnie took a deep breath as he looked up at Balthazar’s trailer. This was going to be difficult, though he knew that the man was out right now so that at least made it easier. For, he wanted to have a talk with Zoey, knowing that the blonde had already spoken to his sister about the two being together but the demon figured that she was just saying it for the sake of her brother.</p><p> </p><p>Now, Vinnie wanted to have a talk with her. Just the two of them alone to ensure that she was really okay about the demon… well, being a demon that just so happened to be in love with her older brother.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a few deep breaths, the demon looked down at the drinks as he recalled the drink that he had brought for Zoey before. Afterwards, Balthazar had mentioned that Zoey wasn’t a fan of hot drinks, preferred simple things more than the finer things that he himself enjoyed. Vinnie almost wanted to laugh at that though kept that to himself for the time being. So, he bought himself some coffee and a shake for Zoey.</p><p> </p><p>If anything, at least he could get her a drink to help her calm her nerves should they be frazzled from talking to a demon.</p><p> </p><p>Carefully, he walked up the steps before opening the door. Looking around the trailer, seeing that it was still pretty dark. “Hello? Anyone here?” Vinnie called out, trying to find any kind of sign that Zoey was here. Did she leave? Was she even in the room or even the trailer at all right now? He didn’t know, but hoped that she was still here.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, he slowly made his way through the room in the hopes of finding any kind of sign of Zoey, saying “Is anyone else here or am I alone right now?” He tilted his head a little, blinking his bio coloured eyes in confusion before rubbing the back of his head.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you doing?” came a voice.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie screamed out in shock as he turned around, his wings sprouting from his back and spread out wide. Even his feathers looked fluffy like that of a cat’s tail when it was scared and tried to make itself appear larger to its attacker. The demon, thankfully hadn’t dropped the tray of drinks that he had in his one hand, though his heart was sure hammering in his chest from the fright.</p><p> </p><p>There was Zoey, looking at the demon with her arms crossed and a brow raised. Man, she looked like her great aunt as well as Balthazar doing that. Was it some kind of Cavendish trait or something? Vinnie dared not to think about such a thing, it was just creepy. “What are you doing here? Are you here to see my brother? He’s gone right now getting some groceries.” Her voice sounded cold, and… maybe threatening. Possibly threatening for sure.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, Vinnie calmly said “No, I’m actually here to talk to you.” He hoped that she would see this as some kind of peace offering, so he held out the shake in his hand. Zoey just looked down at the drink in his hand before looking back up at him. “I promise you, I didn’t do anything to it. I’m not a monster.” The demon said with a frown on his face. Even though she told her brother that she was okay with this, she really wasn’t it was obvious.</p><p> </p><p>“Talk to me about what?” Zoey said, still not taking the drink from the demon.</p><p> </p><p>“About your brother.” Vinnie responded with a sigh before pulling the drink back. It seemed that she wasn’t going to take it so he pointed to the living room. “You can take the couch and I can take a chair if that makes this a little more comfortable? I just want to talk, I promise that’s all I want to do.” Zoey just stared at him for a moment longer before letting out a soft sigh before nodding.</p><p> </p><p>“Fine, but you better have a damn good reason for this alright?” It was so weird that she went from being a fan of his, to being his enemy… well, not really an enemy since she wasn’t trying to hurt him but… well he wasn’t sure what this really was. Hostile maybe.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey made her way over to the couch as she took a seat. Crossing her leg over her knee with her arms still crossed. She stared at Vinnie as he himself took a seat. Setting the shake on the table before he leaned back in his own seat as he sipped at his coffee. His nerves were already frazzled and it was obvious with the way his wings trembled. Taking a deep breath, he drew his wings back in and shuddered. God, it still felt weird having his wings out again though it would take a while.</p><p> </p><p>Almost made him think to when his dads were teaching him how to fly and how he hated the sensation of his wings coming in and out of his back.</p><p> </p><p>“So, go ahead. Talk.” Zoey said with a cold tone to her voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay,” Vinnie started before taking a deep breath. “Just so you know, I do love your brother. You heard the story how I fell for each one of his past lives right?” Zoey nodded her head before she rolled her eyes. Yup, she was like her brother in some way. Creepy. “Just know, that I would do anything for your brother, I would do whatever it took to keep him safe.” She just stared at him as if to make his point already.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing the back of his neck, Vinnie tried to think of a means to explain himself better. Letting out a soft sigh, he whispered “I wasn’t trying to fall in love with him though.” That seemed to have caught Zoey off guard. She just blinked her eyes in confusion, as if trying to process what it was that the man had just said. “I saw him, and knew that he was the current reincarnation of the one I was in love with.” He sighed softly, lowering his gaze as he thought back to when he first saw Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>It pained him then, and it still did now because he wasn’t trying to fall in love with him but it still happened anyway. “I had thought maybe I could just be his friend, because I didn’t want to go through the pain of losing him again. I had lost Balthazar four times by now, and never wanted to feel that again but it just kept happening!” Vinnie snarled a little as he dug his fingers into his knee. Hard enough that he could have broken the skin if he wasn’t careful.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep shuddering breath, he kept going. “I only wanted to be his friend, but slowly I was starting to fall into old habits. Friendship, protective, possessive, then loving him to the point that I knew I was screwed.” Vinnie gave an empty laugh, a few tears were already starting to prickle at his eyes at the thoughts of the past. “Of course, Balthazar hated me at first so I thought that would have been better than him falling in love with me again. To keep himself safe and away from me.”</p><p> </p><p>Zoey just frowned at him while listening to his tale.</p><p> </p><p>“Though, fate has a way of fucking me over. Balthazar, on the night of his birthday of all nights he was going to kiss me. I wanted to kiss him back, I oh so wanted to ya know?” Shaking his head, he added “Okay maybe you don’t since it’s your brother but you get the idea of wanting to kiss someone you love.” Zoey nodded her head a little at that. So at least she could understand that part. “But, I felt my hunger starting to spike to dangerous levels and knew I had to leave or I’d hurt your brother.”</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Vinnie leaned back in his seat as he covered his eyes with his free hand. “I tried to get away, but Balthazar followed me out of worry and concern. Tried to warn him, he didn’t listen and I ended up attacking him and nearly fed from him until he almost died. Crystal and Blade managed to get me off of him and they could save him. I felt terrible for doing that to him even now.”</p><p> </p><p>“You fed from my brother?”</p><p> </p><p>“I had no control over myself, hadn’t fed properly in hundreds of years so I’d go into those spikes now and again. It’s why Crystal created a special drink to help with the drain. She gave your brother enough to help him.” Vinnie whispered softly before biting his lower lip. Chuckling sadly as he tried to keep his emotions in check for the time being though was having a hard time in doing so. “After that, it took a lot of time. Your brother thought I was using him, I don’t blame him though. My kind are known for using humans but, I’d never do that to him.”</p><p> </p><p>“How can he be so sure that it wasn’t the case?” asked Zoey.</p><p> </p><p>Okay, she had a point there. There was no way of knowing that Balthazar had thought of anything but the possibility of Vinnie just using him for a free meal. But at the same time it still hurt to know that was what people had thought of him at the time. “Because I loved him. I had gone through so much pain in my life just to be with him and every time I would fall in love with the same soul they would die. I’m trying to do all I can to keep him safe.” He admitted before letting out a deep sigh. Lowering his hand as he looked over at Zoey. “Did he tell you how I had pretty much put myself at risk just to ensure his safety? My nightmares?”</p><p> </p><p>Zoey shook her head.</p><p> </p><p>“See, Balthazar had asked if I wanted to go somewhere. Wanting to try our friendship again, even if we could only be friends I’d be happy with that. We were attacked afterwards though by Soulless.” Zoey shuddered at that. Odd, why would she shake from hearing Soulless? Weird. “I didn’t know what to do, fighting was doing nothing so I got both of us to the roof, but the fighting took a lot of my energy. I thought we could jump to the next building but it was too far. Got us to jump once I was sure your brother trusted me. Flew, almost made it too!” The demon sighed softly at the memory. They had been so close to the roof’s edge until his body gave out on him and they had started to fall. The rest was a blank void for him since he was out cold but at least he had been filled in.</p><p> </p><p>“Lost the last of my energy attempting that ya know? So, Crystal and Blade saved us from falling and after that… Balthazar knew that I was not the monster he once thought of me as. Even because of my nightmare of failing his past lives. A monster wouldn’t mourn the dead.”</p><p> </p><p>Zoey frowned a little more at that information. Maybe she was starting to see things his way maybe? That he really did love her brother. He lifted his gaze at her for a moment before adding “I know you’ve done all you could to protect your brother.” She blinked at that. “He’s told me how growing up, people would want to use him for his wealth, his status or just wanted to use him for damn bets that they made with their friends.”</p><p> </p><p>The young woman couldn’t help but blink a little more at that one. It seemed that she hadn’t expected for Vinnie to know about that. Or any of that for that matter. Though she allowed him to keep going. “I can understand your reasoning for it too. Balthazar is a sweet guy, a little naïve about a few things but he is dedicated to what he puts his mind to.” Zoey nodded her head. “Just know though, that is all the things I love about him. He’s smart, kind, loyal sweet and just adorable in all the right ways.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie smiled at the thought of his boyfriend. He giggled a little before placing a hand on his cheek, only for his dreamy expression to turn into a serious one. “But, what they did to him? Makes me sick to my stomach, to use someone? To think of someone as just means to gain money or status or just for him to spend his money on them?” He trembled with rage at the thought. “I’m disgusted with it. I’ve not once wanted him to waste his money on me when I can easily do that for myself or spend my money on him. To treat him to something that <em>he </em>wants. To treat him with the respect that he deserves!”</p><p> </p><p>Zoey slowly pushed herself up from the couch, Vinnie wasn’t aware of it though.</p><p> </p><p>“To know that they had caused him pain just because of who his family is? Because they just saw him as some kind of item rather than a person?! I want to find them all and beat them senseless!” Vinnie snarled a little before calming himself down. “But… their loss was my gain. Because I got the best guy in the world! Because I have Balthazar Cavendish, and he knows that he’s worthy of many things in his life and love is one of those things and he deserves to be loved!”</p><p> </p><p>Soon, he felt Zoey’s arms around him, causing him to blink his eyes in confusion before peeking up at her. The young woman was just hugging him, just holding him in her arms and that confused him. He didn’t sense anything amiss, nothing that would have him concerned for her own mentality but… just pure genuine happiness was flowing through her in that moment it seemed. At least, from what he could tell from his years of studying body language thanks to Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey let out a soft sigh. “I’ve wanted nothing but my brother’s happiness all these years. Warning him about how those people were just using him to get them expensive gifts.” She whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. Shit, did he make her cry? “But you are actually genuine in what you feel toward my big brother.” She smiled before pulling back. The young woman wiped at her eyes as she said “You make my brother happy, I won’t lie I was afraid you were bewitching him with some kind of magic-“</p><p> </p><p>“Actually his soul is immune to my charm and eyes so that is something you don’t have to worry about.” Vinnie said with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>She laughed. “Good, but there is one other thing that I’m curious about. Demons are near immortal, what about Balthazar? He isn’t going to live as long as you.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie lowered his gaze. He knows that a human life span is short, very short compared to a demon. Taking a deep breath he whispered “There is actually a way for him to live as long as me.” That seemed to have perked Zoey’s interest in the topic. “See, demons can create mate bonds, they’re kinda like markings which is given by me giving Balthazar my blood.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s kinda like a weird blood transfusion. I give him a good part of my blood and he’ll live as long as I do. But… I never brought it up before.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why?”</p><p> </p><p>“Because I’m still scared he’ll back out. That he’ll die on me like his past lives have. I never even told them what I was, Balthazar is the first one that’s ever known about this!” Vinnie whined a little before draining the last of his coffee. Taking a deep breath, the demon tried to calm his nerves, trying to get himself to calm down and relax. He knew that Balthazar accepted every aspect of Vinnie, but the demon was still afraid. Afraid of losing the man he loved again. Afraid of losing him in some way or form and it terrified him. “Because of that, I just… never brought it up to him yet. I want to ensure that he’ll be safe before anything else happens. The last four lives have died maybe a year or so after meeting me, I want to wait at least after that to ensure that…”</p><p> </p><p>“That you won’t lose him again.” Zoey concluded.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie could only nod his head. That was about it, even though this Balthazar was learning how to fight properly, how to handle himself in a fight now there was still that fear that was in his heart. It just had him terrified to think that what if, someday soon, tomorrow, a week, a month or a year from now, Balthazar would leave him in some cruel fashion. It was… depressing and so much more.</p><p> </p><p>“Actually, I think I know why my ancestors kept dying and it-“</p><p> </p><p>The door slammed open and in walked a pale Balthazar who looked terrified.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Balthazar was going over the list that he made for himself. He had decided to get some groceries for both himself and his sister. Though he also had decided to buy her some shirts. There was no way though that he was going to buy her undergarments for her. He’ll have to get Crystal to go with her if he can get the Fire Lycan Hybrid away from Blade long enough to even go clothes shopping with her.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, he double checked everything to ensure that he indeed had everything that was on the list that he had made for himself. Maybe if he was lucky enough, his sister would come out long enough to actually enjoy herself instead of staying in his room all day. Maybe he could even get his bed back.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, Balthazar knew that it would be a cruel thing to even ask for his bed back already. His sister had been through a terrible ordeal and knew that it would take some time for her to overcome it. If she ever would in the first place. Though it did have him curious as to what she was even doing in there in the first place. It just didn’t make sense to him on what she could possibly be doing in there in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>There was many possibilities but he just wasn’t sure as to what it could be. Shrugging to himself once again, he set the list in his pocket before he picked up the bags once again and started to make his way toward the trailers. Thankfully, he wasn’t far from everyone, it was maybe a ten minute walk if he was lucky, though at the same time he was thankful for his tall frame as with his longer legs he would make the trip in shorter time.</p><p> </p><p>Chuckling to himself, Balthazar knew that there was still problems with being tall, but he couldn’t really complain much at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>As he walked through, the young man couldn’t help but think of his Incubus. Vinnie had been acting worried earlier. When Balthazar had asked him if he would like to join the blonde in his little trip, well the demon had declined. Saying that he had something important that he had to do. Whatever it was, he wasn’t sure, though he felt like there was something missing there. Something that he should have known but at the same time he just wasn’t sure what it could be.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, the young man shook his head. Later he’ll make one of Vinnie’s favourites, maybe they could have some kind of a date night! Yeah, that would make things a little more interesting for sure. It had been a while since they had done anything as such since Zoey had started to stay in the blonde’s trailer.</p><p> </p><p>Smiling at the idea, he had a little pep to his step as he stopped himself at a crossing light. Humming softly to himself while thinking of his demon. Though, the silence was ruined by the sound of his phone ringing. “Hm?” He blinked before slinging the bags to his other arm as he freed his hand to answer his phone. Looking at the caller ID though, it showed that it was Zoey’s number. Odd.</p><p> </p><p>Accepting the call, Balthazar calmly said “Zoey why are you calling me? I swear if you want me to pick up personal items for you, you can for-“</p><p> </p><p><em>”Hello Balthazar.”</em> came a familiar voice, making the blonde freeze for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping, the blonde stammered “Wh-Who is this?”</p><p> </p><p><em>”You don’t remember me? I’m really hurt you know. After all, we’ve met so many… many times before.”</em> said the voice, making Balthazar starting to tremble. He knew this voice yes, it was rather familiar to him but he just couldn’t think as to where it came from, who it was or why they were even calling him in the first place. It just wasn’t making sense to him and it was starting to freak him out.</p><p> </p><p>Gulping a little, the blonde tried to summon all of his courage. Wanting to sound brave when really, he was terrified of this voice already. “What do you want from me? Are you the one that attacked my family back at my home? My sister? How did you get her phone? I swear if you hurt my sister I’ll-“</p><p> </p><p><em>”Balthazar, Balthazar, Balthazar, you can’t hurt me. Nothing can, the only thing that can hurt me, you have no access to.”</em> chuckled the voice, he could just <em>hear </em>how creepy it was, as well as the smile. <em>”Don’t worry, I didn’t have to hurt your sister, and I have no use for her. I have had her phone since I attacked your family home.”</em></p><p> </p><p>Narrowing his eyes, his trembling still ever present though he knew that he needed answers and he needed them now. “Then what do you want? Zoey said something about you telling my parents that you would help them with the family curse. What the hell do you want from us?!”</p><p> </p><p>The line was silent, the blonde almost thought that maybe the line had gone dead. It made the blonde about to hang up until the voice spoke once again. <em>”What I want is you.”</em></p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p><em>”I'll be coming for you, my dear Balthazar Cavendish... you will be mine. Do you understand me?! Mine! This time around, I'll ensure that that fucking Incubus can't do anything to take you from me! I will have you, damn it! I've done this for nearly five hundred years and we will finally be together. Just you wait!"</em> The voice then started to laugh, the laugh was frightening, creepy, it made him think of the laugh in those horror movies that his sister would make him watch. It was even though to make the blood drain away from his face as his trembling started anew. Before he could speak though, the line went dead in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar was now scared.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking like a leaf, Balthazar couldn’t help himself as he stared down at his phone. The caller ID still showed up in the list of phone calls that had been made either to, or from his phone. Thinking back to the man that had called him. The voice was so familiar to him though he was unsure as to who it was, it just didn’t make sense to him.</p><p> </p><p>His heart was hammering in his chest, his breathing was quick and panicked. Balthazar knew that he had to get back to the trailer, had to get back to Vinnie. His weapons, everything!</p><p> </p><p>Looking up at the crossing light, he saw that it was his right to cross, only the countdown was starting and knew that he had to hurry.</p><p> </p><p>Slipping his phone back in his pocket, and slinging some of the bags back into his now empty hand, the blonde ran as quickly as he could.</p><p> </p><p>Now and again, his body would bump or slam into people. He would apologies in the process, though he was pushing himself to run faster and faster. Trying to get himself back to his trailer. His eyes were wide and filled with panic. Tightly shutting his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks as he hadn’t thought that he could actually fear his life more than he could right now. Thinking back to his past lives, how their lives had been cut short just because Vinnie was in his life.</p><p> </p><p>Was his life’s clock ticking down to the time where he too, would share the same fate as his ancestors?</p><p> </p><p>Gulping, Balthazar pushed himself ever harder. The trip, becoming much shorter as he found himself back at his trailer. Slamming the door open as he looked around with fear in his turquoise coloured eyes only for his gaze to fall upon both Vinnie and Zoey who was in his living room.</p><p> </p><p>“Balthy?” came Zoey’s concerned voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Cavendish? What’s going on? You’re pale as a sheet.” Vinnie said as he rose from his seat, starting to make his way toward the blonde. Balthazar though shook his head as he set the bags down. His body still trembling, even more so. Honestly, he would love to be wrapped up in his demon’s arms right now but he needed to calm down. Needed to do something in order to calm down.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe a shower will help him. A nice… quick one.</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie, can you… can you put that away? Zoey I bought you some clothes.” Balthazar whispered before he dashed toward his room. Just needed to find some way to get away from people. Fearing that his number was up, and soon. If that crazy bastard was coming for him he’ll have to prepare himself mentally, as well as physically. Maybe after the shower, some training would help? Yeah, more training, both for himself and for Vinnie’s wings as he was still struggling with maintaining their collective weights in the air.</p><p> </p><p>Upon entering his room, Balthazar removed his waist coat and tossed it aside. Not caring that it didn’t even go into the hamper as he started to dig around his dresser for something to wear. Hoping that his training gear was there. His hands still shook, making it very hard for him to even hold anything while in his search.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, covering his face with his hands as he sighed. <em>’I’m terrified of something I don’t even know who he is! Yet he knows who I am. I don’t get it…’</em> thought the frightened young man before he grabbed some clothes and set them on his bed, only to blink as he saw a few scattered books. Zoey did have her bag with her when brought here… had they been filled with books?</p><p> </p><p>Frowning he carefully lifted one, it was an older book though it was dated back to when his grandmother was a young woman.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Today, we are meeting a man that knows what to do about our dear daughter Katherina. It is said that she had been bewitched by a demon. We don’t know what kind of demon it is, but we hope that she can at least be saved. Though if not, then we must remove her, as she could put the whole world at risk. A human with a demon, is a disgrace that we cannot allow in our family.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Though, the man over the phone had sounded rather professional so perhaps he can still save her soul. Get her to marry a good man and hopefully to keep the family line going. I do not wish for my daughter to suffer the same fate as my wife’s ancestors but if it must be done, then so be it. I won’t have the Cavendish name tarnished by my daughter’s infatuation with a demon.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar felt a chill going up his spine.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>The meeting had gone well, and he had gone to see that Katherina could still be saved. Yet, it seemed that she was far too gone to be saved. So, the professional had said that he can easily still save her soul and hopefully in her next life that she will be free to love a normal human being. The plan though, involves a few of the professionals… as he puts it, associates that can per sway her to the light. I am sad to know that I will lose my daughter, but it must be done.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>This is the only way to save Katherina’s soul, to ensure that she doesn’t keep living with a demon. To keep loving a demon… it is a sing of itself, her soul will be saved no matter what. But, the man also had another plan for us, to ensure that this would never happen again in Katherina’s next life.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar could only stare with wide eyes. His trembling started as he set the book down. That can’t be right, his… his great-grandparents allowed their daughter to be killed? Gulping, he looked at the bed and saw more books and picked up another one. It was older than the others, but had still been in amazing shape. Most likely having been rewritten over the years, which is rather common for family’s to want to keep their family history going even to the smallest of details. Though sometimes a little more modern to be understood.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he started to go through the next book. This one was dated hundreds of years ago, from what he could still make out it was dated to… the first Balthazar Cavendish.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I had started to notice that my son was spending far too much time with that male friend of his. Even noticed that Balthazar had brought that friend into our home when he thought we wouldn’t have noticed. There is no way that we will stand for this taint on our status to continue. It had been going on long enough.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>A mysterious man had come to me one day. Saying that he can easily get Balthazar to leave that brightly clad man, who was actually an Incubus. A creature that fed off of the lust of a human being, and it had targeted my son. I must save his soul, even if it means having him killed. So, I told the strange man to do what he must in order to save my son’s soul. I didn’t care what it was, so long as the job was done.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>When he returned, he said that he had hired a gunman. The targets had been taken care of, though his hired help seemed to have suffered a terrible fate as well it seemed. As when he had found his help, the man looked like he had been beaten to death. I do not know how or why but, the job was done. My son was dead, and hopefully his soul will be saved in the next life, and that monster was dead as well.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar’s eyes were wide seeing this. Gulping, he grabbed the next book, wanting to see if what he was thinking was really going on.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I’ve started to notice my son spending much time with someone. I have no idea who he is, but I know that he isn’t human. I’ve had someone watching them from afar and had seen the curly haired man that had been with my son get thrown through glass before and he acted as if it was nothing to him. There is no way that anyone could have gone through that without an injury at the very least.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Yet there was nothing.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>I knew that the man wasn’t human, he was a creature that I have only ever heard tales of. My son had been bewitched by an Incubus, and there was no telling how long it had been now. Maybe a year or more, but I know that he must be saved. That the only way to save him is to stop this relationship. Or so I had thought at first.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>A strange man told me that he could help us. I just had to agree to him, as a mother I knew that I had to do all that I could to save my son, so I agreed. He told me, to take my family on a nice trip to the cabin. Take my son ice skating and he’ll help with the rest.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Next book, there was no way…</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>A trip to the mountains. A nice, yet simple trip… the mysterious man had said that a nice trip could be what could get my son to stop his sinful ways with that disgusting man. He wasn’t even a man, he was a demon, an Incubus that shouldn’t even be around our family yet he was. And I knew that he had to be stopped. Yet, we had no means of killing a demon. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Only this man that I hired, he told us to go to the mountains, that the mountains could ‘purify’ my son’s soul. The only way to do that, was for an accident to take place, and the winds, as well as the snow would be enough to purify my son’s soul. All I had to do was to accept his terms and on the day of the trip, it would be done. We just had to ensure that my son would join us on the hike of the mountains and then it would take place. He’ll never know what is being planned for him in that moment and I hope that he never does. Because even though he is my son, and that I do indeed care about him no one should be with a curse as this as it is his fate to die, as had the last couple Balthazar’s.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The blonde couldn’t help but stare at the last journal with trembling hands. There was no way that this was possible, for hundreds of years, his family has hired some mysterious man that would just somehow come into their lives and they would set a plan to have his past lives killed? Because of what?! They found out that a Balthazar or his great aunt just so happened to have fallen in love with an Incubus?</p><p> </p><p>Then again… his past lives never knew the truth, never knew that the one they loved was an Incubus.</p><p> </p><p>Just as he was turning himself around to go talk to his sister, he saw something else. This time it was on his nightstand, making him almost afraid of what he was going to find this time around. Gulping a little, the young man slowly reached out and grabbed it, it was Zoey’s sketch book. It was open on the last page that she had been working on. The lines were a little shaky, though he couldn’t help but frown a little at what it was that he was seeing.</p><p> </p><p>It was a sketch of a very familiar person. The young man gulped a little as he felt his heart hammering within his chest all the more. Feeling that his entire body was shaking like a leaf. A shout came out of him as he dropped the book. Rushing out of his room, he felt his body going numb from the shock but he was unsure as to what was happening to him right now, though he didn’t dare think about what was happening to his body, but to his racing mind.</p><p> </p><p>Just as he got out of his room, his body was falling and he didn’t even know it.</p><p> </p><p>“Balthazar!” shouted Vinnie as he rushed toward him. The blonde felt Vinnie’s arms around him, though he saw that his demon’s wings had emerged and wrapped themselves around Balthazar. He couldn’t help but close his eyes in bliss for a moment as he clung to his demon’s jacket as he tried to keep himself steady. “What the hell happened to you?!”</p><p> </p><p>“I… I saw… I saw the journals…”</p><p> </p><p>“Balthy?! You saw the journals? But why?”</p><p> </p><p>“I… I was curious!” Balthazar managed to say, his eyes tightly shut for a moment as he was trying to get himself to calm down. Trying to get himself to stop shaking and trembling so much. It was as if he had no control over his body right now, his body felt unsettled, scared, nervous, it was as if his body was going through a whirlpool of emotions that was forming within. “Zoey, that sketch… where did you see that man?!” Balthazar shouted. His voice was trembling.</p><p> </p><p>“He was the one that was at the manor. The one that attacked mother and father, and the one that had attacked your friends. That was the first form I saw, hadn’t drawn his shadow form yet.” Zoey calmly explained with a frown, it seemed that she didn’t understand why her brother was panicking about the sketch, as well as the journals. It almost made Balthazar think that maybe his sister thought he was overreacting about this but, he couldn’t blame her.</p><p> </p><p>Because the blonde didn’t know what was happening to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Balthazar, what’s going on?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Her sketch Vinnie! It was Shadow! Shadow was the one that attacked my family! He’s a demon! He’s a Soul Stealer! He was the one! The one that called me earlier, the one that attacked my family, the one that planned all my past lives’ deaths! He was the one behind it all!” shouted Balthazar, causing everyone to stare in shock.</p><p> </p><p>It seemed… that the mystery behind his past lives demise… was finally being discovered.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yeah, I'm gonna point out that this, was pretty much what I had planned from the get go, Shadow is someone that has really done what you're most likely thinking. Now, what do you think really happened and why? Let me know, next chapter will be another shock that you most likely won't be figuring out right away till it's happening.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Souls of the Past</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What are you talking about? Shadow was just that creepy guy that was flirting with you right?” Vinnie said with a frown, his wings still circling around Balthazar, wanting to comfort him. The demon had no idea what was going on in his boyfriend’s head right now. But knew that he was scared out of his mind. The way his body shook and trembled, the paleness of his skin and his eyes so wide that the man thought the young man’s eyes would fall out of their sockets.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the demon ran his fingers through the blonde’s hair in the hopes of calming him down. Though it seemed that Balthazar turned himself around in Vinnie’s arms as he tightly held onto the Incubus’ jacket and buried his face against the fabric.</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie?” came Balthazar’s voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah?” He wouldn’t lie, the way Balthazar’s voice shook and trembled with fear, it made his heart clench painfully. Vinnie couldn’t help but want to hold him all the more, just wanting to cuddle him, just wanting to hold onto the man in his arms and comfort him in the hopes that it would be enough to calm the man down.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar took a deep breath as he peeked up at Vinnie as he asked “Did… did you ever meet Shadow before? He’s a demon, so… have you ever crossed paths before-“</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just shook his head. The blonde frowned a little at that one, it seemed that wasn’t the answer that the man before him wanted. Balthazar frowned a little at that and just held onto the demon all the more. The trembling seemed like it was starting to slow down at the very least, though he just couldn’t help but wonder what had caused all of this trembling, there had to be something to have happened.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Vinnie looked over at Zoey as he said “Stay here, here take my phone.” He knew that Zoey didn’t have her phone from what they had talked about while Balthazar was in his room trying to do… whatever it was that he was doing. The young woman took the phone, Vinnie gave her the PIN to his phone so she could call Balthazar’s phone should anything happen. “I’m going to fly over to the dojo with your brother. I’ll need you to text Crystal and Blade, they’re at the top of my contacts, tell them to meet me there.”</p><p> </p><p>The young woman nodded her head as she started to go through his contacts once she got through the lock screen. Vinnie didn’t wait much longer after that as he held tightly onto Balthazar in his arms before flying through the air. It was a little difficult for him, but he could at least hold onto the blonde easier this time. Hoping that Balthazar didn’t move much in his arms. Knowing that if he did, then there was a good chance that he’d drop the blonde or fall.</p><p> </p><p>Tightening his hold, the demon looked down as he saw the dojo in sight. Thankfully no one was around to see someone flying around with wings. Taking a deep breath, he landed on the ground though fell to his knees and was breathing deep breaths. Tightening his hold for a brief moment, the demon buried his face against the blonde’s hair. “Don’t worry, we’ll get this taken care of.” He figured that it was best that Zoey wasn’t involved this time around.</p><p> </p><p>Best way to do that, was to go to the dojo where they had space and of course, to ensure that Zoey didn’t get more involved than she already did.</p><p> </p><p>Forcing his wings to recede into his back, Vinnie pushed himself up onto his feet, breathing deeply before making his way into the dojo and looked around for a chair to get Balthazar to sit in. The man was still shaking and trembling that it just broke his heart to see such a thing take place.</p><p> </p><p>Looking around, he knew that they hadn’t used the dojo much since moving to this location, but damn he had thought they’d have a nice chair or something for the onlookers or something like that. Shaking his head, the demon kept his search before he was able to find his chair. Upon his discovery, he set Balthazar down and knelt in front of him. Talking to him in the hopes of getting him to calm down, to relax, to well, anything really.</p><p> </p><p>It didn’t take long for Crystal and Blade to show up. Balthazar was still shaking and trembling but not as badly as before. For that Vinnie was thankful though he just hoped that it would be enough for the young man before him to speak. Taking a deep breath, Vinnie smiled up at Balthazar who just looked down at the demon, gave him a small smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t worry, we’ll get this sorted out okay? I promise.” Vinnie said with a smile on his face before he pushed himself up and kissed Balthazar’s forehead. The blonde slowly nodded his head, though had enjoyed the warmth and comfort from the simple kiss. Even if it was to his forehead, he was happy either way. Taking a deep breath, the Incubus made his way over toward his friends as he kept looking over at his boyfriend in the hopes that he would be okay.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing softly, the demon looked back at his friends as he started to explain to them on what had happened. That Balthazar came back to the trailer white as a sheet, set the bags aside and Vinnie of course had put them away to help. How the blonde was in his room for a while and when he came out of the room, how he had fallen over. Vinnie had even explained how his wings had sprouted and wrapped themselves around Balthazar, as if trying to comfort him from whatever panic that was swirling around in the blonde’s head.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal frowned a little at that one. It was just as confusing for her as well, even Blade didn’t know what was going on. At least compared to what Vinnie had explained to the two of them. The Fire Lycan made her way over to the blonde and knelt in front of him. Vinnie was worried about everything that was happening when it came to Balthazar. It was as if the man was destined to have something bad happen to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay Cavendish, what happened? Do you mind if I read your emotions?” Crystal asked softly, Balthazar slowly turned his head to stare at the woman before him for a brief moment. It was as if he was unsure as to what was happening right now around him. Though, he just frowned a little before nodding his head slowly.</p><p> </p><p>The Fire Lycan gave him a small smile before reaching forward and grabbed a hold of his hand.</p><p> </p><p>Only for her to throw her head back, eyes wide, mouth open in a silent scream. “Crystal!?” shouted both Blade and Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Both men rushed forward and grabbed a hold of Crystal and pulled her away. When she released her hold on Balthazar she groaned as she laid on the floor. Her eyes were tightly shut as she whined a little and held onto her head. Okay, that was something that she wasn’t expecting it seemed, even Vinnie and Blade hadn’t expected that kind of action. The woman tightly held onto Blade for a moment while trying to take a deep breath, hoping to calm herself.</p><p> </p><p>“What did you feel?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Panic, fear, shock… so much, it almost felt like it was felt from different people but the same at the same time!” Crystal said in shock, unsure as to what happened. Even Vinnie didn’t understand what it was that had happened. No one could really understand what was going on, and the Incubus couldn’t help but look back at Balthazar who was now curling up in a ball and almost looked like he wanted to rock bath and forth in his seat but didn’t as he could fall off.</p><p> </p><p>Blade frowned as he ran a hand through Crystal’s hair before looking up at Vinnie. “I’ll talk to him and see if maybe it would help a bit?” The Incubus could only nod his head, whatever it took to help Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the Nekoline carefully let go of Crystal as he made his way over to Balthazar. Hands dug into his pockets as he asked “What happened Balthazar? You were fine when I saw you walking to do whatever you wanted earlier.” So, Blade saw the blonde leaving earlier it seemed. So that showed that Balthazar was fine beforehand, now he was panicked to the point that even Crystal couldn’t even read what it was that was happening.</p><p> </p><p>Not without hurting her in the end.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked up as he stared up at Blade, frowned before lowering his gaze. “I was on my way back.” He whispered, it was at least a relief that he was speaking. So that was good for the Incubus. The blonde shakily ran a hand through his hair as he whispered “I got a phone call from Zoey’s phone.” Okay now that was confusing since he hadn’t seen Zoey pull out any phone, and the fact that she didn’t have her phone at all. Didn’t his boyfriend know that?</p><p> </p><p>“Then what happened?” asked Blade as he frowned at the man before him.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep shuddering breath, Balthazar whispered “It wasn’t Zoey though, it was the creature that had attacked my family home… he took Zoey’s phone it seemed.” Then the blonde had then started to go into detail over what the phone call entailed. Such as the man claiming to be coming for Balthazar, and that he had been doing this for five hundred years. Had that been how long this has been going on for? Maybe close, he wasn’t sure though he just wanted to do something to help her boyfriend.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the demon knew that he had to do something to help the blonde but what was he to do? It just didn’t make sense to him that this creature, this monster was after Balthazar. Taking a deep breath, he walked over as he then looked over at Blade, who was staring at him and gestured for him to keep going.</p><p> </p><p>“What happened after you got back?” asked Blade.</p><p> </p><p>“I saw journals on my bed. I think Zoey had them on her when you and Crystal saved her.” Balthazar whispered softly before taking a deep shuddering breath. Hoping that would be enough to calm himself down, though he couldn’t be sure as to what it was that was going to happen. Looking over at Vinnie for a brief moment before lowering his gaze once again. It almost looked like guilt and shame was shining in his eyes that had the Incubus concerned and worried for the man.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie couldn’t help but frown in worry and concern.</p><p> </p><p>“I saw some journals that was owned by past members of my family. I read the journals a little and saw the dates that were written to when the deaths had occurred. They all mention the same thing… ancestor in love with a demon, with an Incubus.” Now Vinnie was worried about what the man had found on his own. It made him scared for his boyfriend, and unsure as to what it was that he could do to help him. “Then a mysterious man coming to my family saying that they can help, but it was too late for my past lives, but they could still save their soul.” A feeling of dread was going up his spine right now and it made him all the more nervous. “They killed my past lives with the help of that man.”</p><p> </p><p>Eyes widening, Vinnie just stared with wide eyed shock at the thought. His heart was hammering in his chest as he thought back to all the times that he had been with the past lives of Balthazar. It didn’t make sense to him but he could recall the few things that had been brought up to the Incubus.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”My dear, if something happens to me please know that I love you okay?”</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“Mother is acting strange, I don’t know what’s wrong with her but her eyes seem kind of empty. But we’re just going to go ice skating at the cottage in the mountains. Don’t worry.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Vincent, I don’t know what it is, but I feel something had changed with my father. There is something wrong with him lately, he seems nervous about something but hoping that everything will be okay! I promise I’ll…”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Vinnie? I’m just gonna go to the gala. If I’m not back on time, please come out looking for me okay? I… I just have a weird feeling is all.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie?” came Crystal’s voice, a hand on his shoulder, his wings were out and shuddering with his deep, panicked breaths. He had been lost in his own memories that he hadn’t even noticed that he had been panicking from all of that. But, if that had happened? Had they really been worried for their lives that he hadn’t even noticed anything? He wanted to cry, wanted to shout or well… anything. Tightly shutting his eyes, Vinnie covered his face as he was trying not to cry right now.</p><p> </p><p>“I should have known.” Vinnie sobbed.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay, just relax.”</p><p> </p><p>“How can I relax?! I had condemned the people I loved to death! They looked scared before but tried to hide it and I never responded to it in the first place! I felt… I felt… I should have done something!” Vinnie shouted, his wings now spread out shuddering as if reflecting his anger. Gritting his teeth, the demon knew that he should have done something back then, but couldn’t anymore. Now he knew that he had to do something for Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Had to do something for his current Balthazar. To do something for the man that he loved more than his own life. There had to be something that he could do, and knew that there had to be something that they could do in order to stop this monster from attacking Balthazar again. But there was something missing here, there had to be something that they were missing right about now.</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie,” Crystal began, causing him to look down. “Did you ever see anyone around Cavendish or even Katherina?” Vinnie frowned a little at that one. Trying to think about all the times that he spent with his past lovers, trying to think and think with all the brain power that he had only to sigh as he shook his head. Crystal hummed a little before her eyes widening a little. “Wait, maybe the past lives did.” Huh? What the hell did that mean? Why would she even bring that up in the first place? It just didn’t make sense to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I do have an idea as to what we can do to get that information but you may not like it.” Crystal said softly before rubbing at the back of her neck.</p><p> </p><p>“Why?” asked Vinnie, already getting a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.</p><p> </p><p>“Well you see, I was able to bring out Blade’s emotions before to get him to use his power to send us back through the shadows.” Crystal said before looking up at Vinnie before looking away. “I can easily do that with the emotional memories of Cavendish’s past lives.” That sounded amazing really! What could be the draw back though, there was no downside to this! “But…” Oh shit. “But there is a chance of it overshadowing the Cavendish of right now.”</p><p> </p><p>What?</p><p> </p><p>“There is a good chance that the overshadowing would take place, and overtake Cavendish completely. He wouldn’t be himself anymore.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hell no!” Vinnie shouted, causing Crystal, Blade and Balthazar to jump in shock. “That is a fate worse than death! Do you know what could happen?!” The Incubus shouted at the Fire Lycan before shaking his head at his adopted sister. There was no way in hell would he allow that to even happen. To lose Balthazar like that, to lose him to being overshadowed by his own past lives was far worse than death.</p><p> </p><p>He wouldn’t be able to do anything, he would lose himself to the souls of his own past lives and would be stuck sitting in the back seat and just watch as his own life passed him by.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll do it.” Balthazar whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“What?!” Vinnie shouted before glaring at his boyfriend. Didn’t he know what this would do?! Couldn’t he understand what was going to happen if he went through with this?! That this could actually destroy him! He couldn’t watch that happen to the man that he loved, to watch it… he felt tears starting to spill down his cheeks. “Please don’t do this Balthazar! Think this through at least!”</p><p> </p><p>“I… I have. I want answers, I’ll do it.” Balthazar whispered softly, still trembling but not as badly. Couldn’t even see it unless you really looked at him.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal took a deep breath as she made her way over toward Balthazar. Her hands were held out near the blonde’s temples as she asked “You sure about this? Because once I start, I won’t stop until the results that we need are in place.” The man just nodded his head and closed his eyes. The woman bit her lower lip, even she was nervous about the whole thing.</p><p> </p><p>Blade though grabbed a hold of Vinnie as he said “Just stay behind for now. We don’t want him to see you in case the past lives see you they would get distracted since to them, they hadn’t seen you in days possibly, not hundreds of years.” The Incubus could only nod his head at that, he knew that it was a possibility but he still hated it with a passion.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young woman placed her fingertips at Balthazar’s temples and closed her eyes. She shuddered a few times, gritting her teeth before opening her eyes that were glowing a bright white. Vinnie couldn’t help but stare in shocked awe as she just stood there. Still as a statue as she kept her fingers upon his boyfriend’s temples.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar grunted and groaned, whined and whimpered as he struggled in his seat. Squirming around as he sat though Blade kept the Incubus from moving toward his boyfriend to comfort him. Snarling at the Nekoline, who only shook his head. “If you stop it, there is no telling what could happen. It could force a past life out and stay there forever. We don’t know what could happen Vincent, just relax alright? Crystal knows what she’s doing.”</p><p> </p><p>He snarled once more before looking back at his friend. Unsure if this was even the right way to go about it. If it would even work in the end, or if he would end up losing his boyfriend forever. The thought of losing his boyfriend, losing his lover broke his heart and it made him want to cry or at least pull the man away from his adopted sister to ensure his safety and sanity.</p><p> </p><p>Because having so many souls in control would drive anyone to insanity.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar cried out as if he was in a great deal of pain, Crystal though didn’t seem to be aware of what was happening. She was just standing there, eyes still aglow in a bright white light. Most likely her Celestial blood in play for her right now, though he could make out the sweat that was starting to form on her forehead. Her hands were even starting to tremble as she held onto the blonde’s head, trying to keep herself steady it seemed.</p><p> </p><p>Though it seemed that due to her lack of training in her other heritage that she couldn’t keep this up much longer, but would it be long enough for her to do what she had pulled.</p><p> </p><p><em>”No! We don’t want to be summoned! We must… remain!”</em> shouted a voice, causing Vinnie to frown as he looked around the room, wondering where it was coming from. <em>”We are to remain dormant, to protect our soul from any more harm than what has already been done!”</em> What? Huh? Protect? Soul? Vinnie slowly turned his head to stare at the still squirming Balthazar as he was all but crying out in pain and thrashing about in his seat.</p><p> </p><p>“Balthazar?” whispered Vinnie, unsure as to what more he could say.</p><p> </p><p><em>”He mustn’t know! He shan’t know the truth!”</em> shouted Balthazar, his head shaking though Crystal kept a firm grip on his head even as his head was whipping about, her hands would merely seemed to be glued to his temples. <em>”Stop it! We cannot come out! We have to stay within the soul!”</em></p><p> </p><p>“Crystal stop it!” shouted Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal didn’t even respond, just kept going on with what she was doing. Vinnie was about to rush toward his sister to get this madness to stop until Blade grabbed him. “Wait… look.” Soon, Balthazar’s thrashing had stopped, slumped forward and a soft groan was heard. Crystal drew her hands back, the glowing of her eyes slowly dimmed until her normal eyes took place. Only to roll into the back of her head as she started to fall backward.</p><p> </p><p>Blade rushed forward and quickly caught her and just sat on the floor with her. The Fire Lycan groaned a little before opening her eyes as she looked up at Blade and smiled. “Hey.” Was all Crystal could say before pushing herself up onto her feet. Vinnie was about to walk toward them but seeing his sister shaking her head, he stopped. “Stay where you are.” Blade looked up at Vinnie and nodded his agreement.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal took a deep shuddering breath before walking over till she stood before Balthazar. “Okay, who am I speaking to right now?” asked Crystal. Slowly, Balthazar lifted his head, looking dazed and confused for a brief moment. It almost looked as if his irises were splitting and changing into different shades all at once. Vinnie could see it from where he stood and even he didn’t know what was going on right then. It made him worried but he just didn’t know what he was to do in that moment.</p><p> </p><p><em>”Balthazar 1/2/3 Katherina Cavendish.”</em> came many voices, it was as if there were four voices overlapping each other, it made Vinnie just stare with wide eyed shock. Unsure as to what the hell was going on, all he knew was that he didn’t like it. Was this what Crystal had planned in the first place? To somehow bring out all the emotions of all four past lives? Or was that just some kind of weird miscalculation on her part?</p><p> </p><p>Crystal frowned a little at that one, it seemed that she really hadn’t planned for that. “May I ask why you were fighting me so much? Protect the soul from what?”</p><p> </p><p><em>”From the Shadow man.”</em> came their answer.</p><p> </p><p>“Shadow man?” Crystal and Blade both said in confusion.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”That was what he called himself. He called himself Shadow.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie stared with wide eyes at that. But, that couldn’t be possible, how was it that Shadow was there? Was he really a demon? Just like what Balthazar had claimed? There was no way that this was to be possible, yet he was happening. Shaking his head, the Incubus wanted to say something, wanting to do something but what was he to do? If he said anything, there was a good chance that it would ruin anything that was happening for answers.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal took a deep breath as she ran a hand through her hair before looking at the man before her. There was going to be a long way to go for this, though there was no way of knowing what was going to be said. Narrowing her eyes a little, she asked “So answer me this, how many times have you encountered Shadow.”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Many.”</em> Was the answer, shaking their head before taking a deep breath. <em>”Many, many times. Shadow came to me… us… wanting to talk us out of seeing our lover.”</em> Vinnie stared with wide eyes at that one. There was no way that this made sense to him. Why would Shadow try to do anything? It just didn’t make sense, none of this made sense!</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar took a deep breath, tilting his head back as it lolled from side to side, as if this whole thing was exhausting him. Maybe it was exhausting the real Balthazar while he just sat in the back seat while his past lives were in the front. <em>”Every time he’s tried, we would say no. That we were already deeply in love. He kept trying to per sway us to be with him. To love him instead so he could have us instead.”</em> Huh? <em>”But, he wouldn’t accept no for our answer and vowed that we’d pay.”</em></p><p> </p><p>This wasn’t right, this made no sense, and there was no way that this should be possible yet it was. Shaking his head, Vinnie was about to step forward but stopped himself from doing so. There was still more information that they needed to know.</p><p> </p><p>“What about the moments of your deaths. What happened?” asked Crystal.</p><p> </p><p><em>”Our deaths…”</em> Balthazar mumbled before taking a deep breath while in deep thought. Trying to think of the right means of explaining. <em>”Yes, each time we have died, we would see the same thing. A smile, a creepy smile… the gunmen… mother… father… the rapists.”</em> Crystal stared with wide eyes on that one. Right, Vinnie never told Crystal about Katherina’s death, at least not fully. He had only mentioned about the mugging, not the rape.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie saw the shuddering of Balthazar’s body and had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from rushing forward. <em>”They would all have the same creepy smile as Shadow. All of them would have that same smile as they either watched us, or allowed us to die, they wouldn’t even try to help us… just watch.”</em> Vinnie stared with wide eyes <em>"The gunmen seemed sorry, but wasn’t as he shot me and watched me die. Mother, she wasn’t on the ice and had me go onto the frozen lake… knowing that it wouldn’t hold my weight.”</em> Vinnie felt anger starting to bubble within his veins. How his blood hadn’t just evaporated into steam he didn’t know. <em>”Father shoving me down the mountain as we were impaled on a tree… then the muggers, all of them had the same smile as they raped and stabbed us.”</em></p><p> </p><p>Now he was pissed.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie wanted to find Shadow and kill the bastard! There was no way that he would allow this to happen! He would make sure that they would be avenged for sure this time around! His wings shot out of his back and fluttered out in his anger. <em>”Our only regret, was that we didn’t have a lot of time with our Vinnie/Vincent.”</em></p><p> </p><p>Huh?</p><p> </p><p><em>”All we thought about was how we would be leaving him alone, how he would be left alone in the world… waiting for us in the next life. Just like how we waited for him in the afterlife.”</em> They said, causing Vinnie to frown a little at that. So, they waited for him even in the afterlife? It just made him hurt all the more but he hated himself more for that.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m so sorry.” Vinnie whispered covering his face with his hand, as his voice sounding choked up as the tears started to pour down his cheeks.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Vinnie/Vincent?”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie lowered his hand as he looked over at Balthazar and saw that they were looking back at the Incubus. Gulping a little, the man felt like he had messed up just now. Feeling like he had gone and done something very stupid if he had messed up their plans for trying to learn about the cause of their deaths in the past.</p><p> </p><p>“Uh…”</p><p> </p><p><em>”Vinnie/Vincent! Our love! You’re here!”</em> Balthazar slowly rose to their feet, moving slowly as they attempted to run toward Vinnie and wrapped their arms around the Incubus. <em>”Our love! Oh how we’ve missed you!” </em>They said as they wrapped his arms around Vinnie and pulled him in for a deep kiss. His eyes widened in shock, he could feel the love and lustful energies of five people right now. Maybe even the current Balthazar was trying to show that he was still there in some way. Though the man didn’t know what to do, what he was to do right now.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal looked over at Blade for a moment before looking back. “I think you should take him back to your trailer. I’ll check on Zoey and make sure that she’s okay.” Vinnie just let out a panicked and shocked hum of confirmation before looking up at Balthazar. Unsure as to what he was to do, though knew that Crystal was right. They had to get back to his trailer so they wouldn’t be seen.</p><p> </p><p>Pulling himself back, Vinnie gave a small smile to Balthazar as he said “Come on, we’ll go back to my place okay? We’re in a public domain right now, and to keep going like this may not look good on their review.” The blonde looked down at Vinnie in confusion. Right, he was talking to people who didn’t know what he was talking about right now. Some of them or at least most of them didn’t know what he was talking about.</p><p> </p><p>Only two members of the soul knew would know what he was talking about.</p><p> </p><p>Though, Balthazar just nodded their head as a hand gently cupped at Vinnie’s cheek as they agreed. <em>”Yes our dear, we shall.”</em> Okay this was going to be exhausting but at least it seemed like he was going to get a good feeding right now. So a good fly would make things a little easier it seemed.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he carefully lifted the man in his arms as he started to walk out of the dojo. His wings flapping as he did so before taking to the sky. This was going to be an interesting night, though he just hoped and prayed that Balthazar would be himself again by tomorrow or something. That was something that he was more worried about anything else.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>’Please be okay though Balthazar…’</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm just gonna point out that the whole 'talking to the past souls' of Balthazar would work due to the nature of his deaths, but a risk needed to be placed but also something more for Vinnie on his path of healing. I'm hoping it still makes sense, but the epic fight shall come in a few chapters I think... I hope you all enjoy.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. The Morning After</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar wakes up the morning after his past lives took control. Though he has no memory of it at all, so Vinnie has to explain, but Balthazar asks him the one question that he knew that had to be asked.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar groaned a little as he rolled over in bed… Trying to think as to why he felt the way he did. Felt like he had a mind numbing headache that didn’t just stay in his head, but had felt like it had been going through his entire body. Slowly, he felt something tugging at his mind before slowly he started to open his eyes a little.</p><p> </p><p>“Hm?” The blonde mumbled before he blinked a few times trying to clear his vision. Though was unsure as to where he was, or even when it was for that matter. Vision is still trying to clear itself for him though it still made his headache all the worse. “Ugh, my head.” He whined a little before looking over and frowned as he saw Vinnie laying on the other side of the bed. Wait, when did he even get to bed?</p><p> </p><p>When did they even get back to the trailers?</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, he slowly pushed himself up from the bed and ran a hand down his face. Trying to feel himself starting to come about in a sense. Trying to think of what had happened. He remembered little to nothing, unsure as to how much time had even passed. Breathing deeply, the young man looked back over to Vinnie and frowned a little. He saw that the blanket had dropped down to the Incubus’ waist, showing that he wasn’t wearing a shirt.</p><p> </p><p>That was very weird.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes a couple times, he looked down at his own lap and frowned a little as he saw that he himself, wasn’t wearing a shirt. “What the devil?” He pulled the blanket a little more and saw that he was, indeed naked. “What?!” He stared with wide eyes only to wince at the sound of his own voice. His head almost felt like it trying to split in half or at least split in different directions.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his temples, the young man slowly pulled himself out of bed as he made his way over to the dresser that Vinnie let him use. Stumbling as he did so, he managed to get some clean clothes to wear before slowly making his way toward the bathroom and started to get himself cleaned up.</p><p> </p><p>His entire body ached, though he had hoped that maybe while under the steaming water that it would help his aching head and body. Taking a deep breath, the young man closed his eyes while trying to think on what had happened. Trying to think back to the moment that he had arrived back to his trailer with his shopping, to Vinnie carrying him to the dojo and Crystal saying something about… bringing out memories or emotions of his past lives.</p><p> </p><p>But after that, everything was a blank to him. It had felt like he had been hypnotized or something, had gone to sleep and then that was it. But how the devil did he end up in bed with Vinnie? How the heck did they both end up naked in the long run? Did they do something while he was out of it? Oh god, he would have to talk to his demon later but was unsure as to how it would work in the long run.</p><p> </p><p>Lowering his gaze for a brief moment, the young man just wasn’t sure what had happened, though knew that he would have to get some answers from Vinnie. First though, he still had to get something to eat, he was starving as well as exhausted after everything that… may have happened? He didn’t know.</p><p> </p><p>Once he was done with his shower, Balthazar shut the water off before drying off, getting himself dressed as he stared at his reflection. His skin looked a little pale, dark circles under his eyes as he stared at the man in the mirror. Blinking slowly, the young man frowned as he stared at himself, what was with that? Shaking his head, the blonde grabbed his glasses and set them upon his face. He still felt tired, maybe he’ll have to get one of those drinks that Crystal created.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man leaned against the counter as he let out a soft sigh. This was going to be a long day, just trying to recover from all that had happened. Reaching up with a trembling hand, the young man rubbed at his forehead as he tried to get himself to calm down and relax. Maybe he’d need to sit down first. Carefully, he started to make his way over toward the living room and plopped himself down on the couch.</p><p> </p><p>“What did Crystal do to me? Did it even work? Or it did work and I just wasn’t able to keep in control?” Balthazar whispered softly before frowning as he leaned his head back as he stared at the ceiling. Yeah, there was no way of knowing, checking his pockets though told him that he didn’t have his phone. Maybe Vinnie had taken his phone so he had a phone to use should Zoey need help? Then again, he hadn’t seen his phone at all…</p><p> </p><p>He didn’t know, but knew that he would have to ask when Vinnie woke up, there was no way that he would be waking up his demon right now. The Incubus looked just as exhausted as the blonde felt right about now. Frowning, he looked back toward the bedroom and tilted his head a little. Hm, maybe he could make something for the exhausted man so that way when he woke up he would have something good to eat to help him regain his own strength.</p><p> </p><p>Yeah, that sounded like a fantastic plan.</p><p> </p><p>Giving a small chuckle, the young man pushed himself up onto his trembling legs as he started to make his way over to the kitchen and started to cook. Since it was breakfast, or… at least he thinks it was breakfast, decided to just stick to simple bacon, eggs and sausage. Grabbing everything that he needed to cook, he started to hum to himself as he cooked. Though, he did have to stop here and there while cooking, his vision would blur. Closing his eyes for a brief moment, the young man tried to keep himself to calm down so he wouldn’t fall over.</p><p> </p><p>Though, it seemed that he was meant to fall over as his legs could no longer support himself. Before he hit the ground though, the young man had felt something wrapping around him, and it kept him from hitting the floor. “Hey, you okay?” asked Vinnie, as if he was afraid of the answer.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes slowly, he saw his demon staring down at him with concern and worry. It was as if he was afraid not just of his answer now, but how he would talk or something along those lines. Frowning, Balthazar asked “I’m okay, but what about you? You’re acting like I’m a different person.” Vinnie just let out a soft sigh as he ran a hand through his hair before letting out a laugh. As if he was laughing at some kind of joke that only he himself could understand. Something that Balthazar felt like he was locked out of at this point.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll explain later, for now just relax okay? You went through a lot yesterday.” Vinnie calmly said before helping the blonde to the couch. “Now, what were you cooking? I’ll finish.” The demon explained as he let out a small chuckle. Balthazar though could only frown as he stared at the demon before him. It just made him all the more confused, but at least he now knew that it had only been a day at the very least. Taking a deep breath, the blonde nodded his head before being helped to take a seat on the couch.</p><p> </p><p>As he sat on the couch, Balthazar tried to think on what could have happened. A soft tune was being hummed by Vinnie so that had made it a little hard for the blonde to focus. “Dakota, can I have one of those drinks? I’m so tired… everything hurts.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh sure.” Vinnie replied with a weak chuckle before he went to the fridge and pulled out one of the many drinks for Balthazar. When the blonde looked up though, he saw that the Incubus was holding up a rather large canister of the drink. “Here, this one is really concentrated but you really need it. You did give me a lot of energy… kinda.” That felt weird, why did it seem weird for the demon to have said it that way?</p><p> </p><p>Once he got the drink, Balthazar couldn’t help but stare at it in confusion for a moment before shrugging and sipped. His body shuddered for a brief moment before relaxing. It seemed that the drink was trying to help energize him quickly. Maybe it was better for him to have just gotten a regular one to ease himself into getting fully energized.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, he sipped at the drink once again and another shudder went through his entire body. Turning his gaze onto the Incubus, he noticed that Vinnie had changed into a pair of green cargo pants and a white t-shirt. Made him wonder how long it had taken him to notice that the blonde was missing from bed. Though figured maybe he had noticed the moment Balthazar left to shower but hadn’t acted until maybe he started going through the kitchen.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, Balthazar couldn’t help but look up at his demon as the man cooked. His humming was still as persistent as ever though he just couldn’t help but wonder how he seemed like he had such a pep in his step right now. Didn’t even look tired or seem exhausted. It was as if he was fully energized now and that was rather odd now that he thought about it.</p><p> </p><p>Tilting his head, he took another sip of his drink before pushing himself up onto his feet. Vinnie’s humming stopped in that moment as he turned his head a little. “Sit back down Cav, I’ll bring your breakfast in a minute.” Wait, how did he hear that? His hearing wasn’t that good was it?</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the young man sat back down and sighed softly. Honestly, Balthazar hated not being able to do anything, it just made him want to pout really. Looking around the trailer, he saw that he was at least back in Vinnie’s trailer, so now he knew exactly where he was. So that had to mean something, but now he was just confused as to the ‘how’ part of his question. “Dakota, how did we get here?” asked the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll explain later okay? Just relax, you went through a lot yesterday. Both emotionally and physically.” What the devil did that mean? Now it just had him all the more curious as well as confused as to what was happening right now. Taking a deep breath, the young man looked down at his drink and wondered if he should just drink it all in one go before thinking better of it. He had no idea just how bad it would be if he drank something that was this concentrated. Perhaps, it was best just to sip at it carefully.</p><p> </p><p>Biting his lower lip, he asked “What about Zoey, is she okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh yeah, she called yesterday after we got back to the trailer. She’s okay, don’t worry. I had to give her my phone though since she didn’t have hers. I think Crystal took her out to get some shopping done since you didn’t pick up any underwear and bras for her.”</p><p> </p><p>“I was <em>not </em>picking up my sister’s undergarments!”</p><p> </p><p>“No, no I understand. It’d be weird, I wouldn’t even do that for Crystal and I’ve known her since we were kids.” Vinnie chuckled a little before grabbing some plates as he started to set some paper towel in and set the bacon inside. Most likely to help with all the grease. At least he was thinking smartly though, then again food was a comfort for his demon for a very long time so maybe that was why he knew how to cook.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, it’s still early in the morning, how did you-“</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, I woke up not long after you left bed. I was worried for you so I kept an ear open to listen for you. That was when I got a message from Zoey. I suggested that she has Crystal go with her so that way she would feel a little safe, and not have to worry about being in a store with a guy. Honestly? I think it’s better if she’s with a woman when it comes to that kind of shopping.” Vinnie said with a laugh before he grabbed two more plate and started to put the eggs and sausage on the plates. “By the way, how much bacon do you want?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Just a couple.”</p><p> </p><p>“Alright.” Vinnie responded before he got the plates ready and started to make his way over toward the couch and handed Balthazar his. “Eat a couple bites and then take another sip of that drink alright? It should help with the shuddering.”</p><p> </p><p>“How-“</p><p> </p><p>“Eat.”</p><p> </p><p>“But-“</p><p> </p><p>“Eat.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know but-“</p><p> </p><p>“Balthazar Cavendish if you don’t start eating, I will personally grab the funnel and make you eat.” Vinnie threatened.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar sighed softly, personally he’d rather not have to deal with that funnel again. The last time that happened was at least with a liquid, a funnel with food? No, just no.</p><p> </p><p>As they ate, Balthazar couldn’t help but look over at Vinnie. Noticing a few differences in the man now that he was starting to become a little more self-aware of his surroundings and the people in it. Vinnie’s skin looked a little healthier than before. His hair looked a little more… fluffy perhaps was a good word for it. Then of course the dark circles, as small as they were before and not really noticeable unless you got really close and personal with him, have all but disappeared now.</p><p> </p><p>But what was different compared to the other times that Vinnie fed, to now… at least, he was assuming that he had fed Vinnie since the two of them had both been naked.</p><p> </p><p>Though it still had him a little confused as to how it was making him seem so healthy when before it hadn’t that kind of effect on him before. Tilting his head a little, Balthazar frowned a little before looking up at his demon, the young man couldn’t help but feel a little concerned over what was going on. How he was to ask everything, to make sure that he wasn’t really digging himself a hole with his trust with Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, the young man finished his breakfast as he asked “What happened yesterday? I honestly don’t remember anything after the dojo.” He was honest, that was the only thing that he remembered before waking up this morning. He just couldn’t really be sure as to what it was that could have happened. Sighing, he added “I know that you said you didn’t want to tell me till after I ate but… this is eating at me Vinnie! I can’t… it’s bugging me!”</p><p> </p><p>The demon slowly turned his head while eating some bacon. It seemed that Vinnie had hoped for a little more time it seemed as he looked a little worried over what was happening, or what <em>had</em> happened. Letting out a soft sigh, the curly haired man next to him bit his lower lip as he whispered “I… I don’t know if you’d like the answer.”</p><p> </p><p>Now it had him confused and even worried about everything. Did he do something that Vinnie was ashamed of? Was he in some kind of trouble with the law now? He wasn’t sure and now he was worried for his own safety. “What did I do?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, it wasn’t what you did. It was what was said honestly, but it was really shocking in what we all learned for sure and how you spoke it was kinda creepy.” Okay now Balthazar was rather confused as to what had happened. What had happened during that time that he was out of it. Before the blonde could even ask what had happened, Vinnie shook his head as if telling the blonde to stop, not to ask anything because…</p><p> </p><p>The look in Vinnie’s eyes told Balthazar that he was going to share everything that had happened.</p><p> </p><p>“Crystal was able to get in touch with your soul.” Vinnie calmly said, causing Balthazar to frown a little. Was that bad? It was what they had agreed to, so that wasn’t bad right? After all, they were trying to get some information. Though it had him a little confused as to what he could have said on what had happened. “Before she had managed to bring out the memories and emotions of your past lives, it was as if your body was fighting your own soul.”</p><p> </p><p>What? Why would his body even do that? It just made no sense to him at all. Now he wanted to know more than anything else in what had happened.</p><p> </p><p>“Afterwards, all we could hear was the soul claiming that they were trying to protect you or something. My guess was that during each reincarnation cycle they had kept some form of consciousness within ya. At least in the hopes of trying to protect you over what had happened before their deaths.” That… that kind of sounded rather creepy to the blonde. How was it that a soul, during a reincarnation cycle that it could keep a form of their own past life deep within the soul just so it can protect the current life from whatever it was? Though if that was the case, why was it that he had any memories of his past lives in the first place? It just didn’t make sense.</p><p> </p><p>“But the dreams-“</p><p> </p><p>“I guess that because I was the first trigger, and your soul while hiding their consciousness from you to a degree, couldn’t stop their own memories hidden when they had a good enough trigger. Being around me most likely didn’t help much.” Vinnie guessed before shrugging his shoulders as he let out a soft sigh. That would make a little bit of sense. As when he had thought another memory was going to surface, all he felt was a slight pain and something blocking that memory from surfacing. Then image of his own eyes pretty much staring back at him within his own mind.</p><p> </p><p>It was strange, but it happened.</p><p> </p><p>Looking over at Vinnie for a moment, he saw that the demon was picking at his eggs now it seemed. As if he lost some of his appetite though he knew that the man was just trying to think on what had happened. “We found out that Shadow had been involved with your past lives. Each life, he was there trying to get you to love him instead. To leave me and make sure that you would just love him instead but, you would refuse each time.” Balthazar could believe that, Vinnie was just… perfect. They kind of balanced each other out if he was honest.</p><p> </p><p>But if that was the case, why would Shadow keep coming into each life if that was the case. Wouldn’t he have given up at some point or would he just keep going in the hope that Balthazar would somehow say ‘yes’ and join him in some kind of loving relationship. It was just rather strange but his heart was hammering quickly in his chest while trying to think on what it was that had happened.</p><p> </p><p>“Your past lives, all while talking all at once and hearing them speak through you? It was kind of creepy I won’t lie but I mostly kept to the sidelines not wanting to interfere.” Vinnie said with a soft sigh before looking over at the blonde as he frowned at his boyfriend. “Each time, Shadow claimed that you would regret not being with him. Then your past lives mentioned how before each death, they would see a really creepy smile that was really familiar to them before they had died.”</p><p> </p><p>That’s right, he remembered seeing all of those smiles in the dreams. It made him think back to all of those memories, there was always that creepy smile that would always be at him. But, that would mean…</p><p> </p><p>“I’m thinking that Shadow took the souls of the people he had used to kill you. Because that would explain the people I killed in revenge. They would act as if they felt no pain until I would have actually been able to kill them.” Vinnie pointed out, right the demon had killed some of his past lives killers just to feel some kind of justice but it was empty.</p><p> </p><p>Now though, it seemed that they had an idea as to what had caused all of this. “So, a crazed maniac was the cause of my deaths? He wanted me so badly that he was willing to have my own family kill me in past lives just so he could…” Balthazar started to shake at that information. He was killed… because of a demon wanting him but couldn’t have him? Because he was already in love with Vinnie in each life by then?</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, the blonde looked over at Vinnie as if to confirm everything. The demon could only nod his head before setting his plate down and pulled the blonde into a hug. Balthazar tightly held onto his demon and tried to get himself under control. “I can’t believe it, the ‘curse’ was just so some demon could have me?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>“That would explain the cold tingling-“</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, you felt it with Shadow?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but it was pretty much freezing to me.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s a sign that he is indeed obsessed with you.” Vinnie whispered before letting out a soft sigh only to rub at the back of his head.</p><p> </p><p>“By the way… how did we get back here?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie chuckled a little. His face tinted pink as he stared at the blonde as he started to explain. “Well, you see, when your past lives both heard and saw me they were so happy. Made their way over toward me and kissed me. It was like kissing five people or something like that.” Balthazar was kind of confused at that. That just seemed really odd for him, but then again not like he had any control over himself back then.</p><p> </p><p>“Afterwards, well didn’t want to stay in the dojo in case someone would walk in so I flew us back to my trailer and well, you kind of jumped me.” Vinnie chuckled a little before his face went redder at the reminder of what happened. Though the blonde just stared with wide eyes at the idea of what was happening. Or, at the very least at what <em>had</em> happened. Gulping a little, the young man wanted to know more but he was unable to even voice it. “Well, you gave me a good feeding for sure. It had been like feeding from five people at once.”</p><p> </p><p>“How?”</p><p> </p><p>“Like I said, part of your past lives still kept a part of their consciousness within your soul so because of that, they kept enough of their minds deep within to even produce enough energy that would allow me to feed from them. So, with you, plus their energy it was enough to feed me, I’m actually full from energy but can still eat some normal food.” Vinnie explained with a chuckle before he gave Balthazar a soft smile.</p><p> </p><p>“So, you’re healthy again?” Balthazar asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, but I still need to train my wings. But for now, we are just going to relax since you need to get your own energy back. I’m going to take care of you this time.” With that, Vinnie kissed Balthazar quickly, and gently before finishing his own food and went to wash his dishes before coming to take Balthazar’s plate once they were done. Though, honestly? Just spending time with his demon was enough for him for the time being.</p><p> </p><p>But, there was still more that he wanted to know. “Vinnie…” Balthazar whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p> </p><p>“Did you… talk to them? To my past lives? I bet you had a lot of things to ask them…” Balthazar asked softly.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie stopped for a moment in what he was doing. “I… I asked them if they regretted being with me. If they blamed me for not doing more for them… for not saving them.” The Incubus started to shake and tremble, his words sounding a little choked up as he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, though he started to sob. It was then that Balthazar knew…</p><p> </p><p>The demon had tried not to let his own emotions overtake him so Vinnie could look after Balthazar. So he wouldn’t worry the blonde with his own problems before sharing anything like this. Taking a deep breath, Balthazar pushed himself up onto his feet before forcing himself to walk toward his demon.</p><p> </p><p>Upon reaching him, Balthazar wrapped his arms around Vinnie and buried his face against the Incubus’ neck. “What did they say?”</p><p> </p><p>“They never blamed me. Not a single ounce of anger or hate was with them Balthazar. I feared they hated me, I expected them to hate me! I almost <em>wanted</em> them to hate me because it was what I deserve!” Vinnie sobbed out. Balthazar let out a soft sigh before spinning the demon around and held onto him. His wings shot out, the blonde blinked his eyes in confusion before he noticed that he had hit the back of Vinnie’s neck. Not enough to hurt him, but enough to force the wings out.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, the blonde felt the shorter man’s arms clutching at his back before crying against his chest. Balthazar knew that this was something that Vinnie needed. All these years, all those centuries, it was the words of his past lovers that he had so desperately needed to hear all these years. “I love you Balthazar.” Vinnie sobbed out.</p><p> </p><p>“And I love you my dear Incubus, my dear Vinnie.” Balthazar whispered, noticing that Vinnie’s wings were now wrapping themselves around the pair in a nice warm blanket of feathers.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>figured Vinnie needed to talk to the souls of his past lovers, to know if they had hated him because for all that time? He felt like they had a right to hate him but they never did. It would help him in his path of healing but there is still more to learn and to heal from. What it is, I won't reveal.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. You're a What?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Just when Balthazar thought he couldn't learn more about his demon, but feels for Vinnie when he reveals a part of his past.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vinnie sighed softly as he made his way over to the couch. They had spent a good part of the day training, so he had suggested to Balthazar to take the rest of the night off. Just the two of them to cuddle on the couch and maybe watch a few movies or some TV shows. Something that would make the night a little more comforting for the two of them.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, the Incubus felt like it was something that they both deserved at this point. After everything that had happened, all the drama and the bull shit that the two of gone through the last week alone? It made him worried for his boyfriend’s safety yes, but also worried for him mentally and emotionally right now. Okay and spiritually as well with all that had happened.</p><p> </p><p>His gaze fell on the blonde who sat on the couch while he was channel surfing. Trying to find a movie, though, Vinnie had to wonder what was happening in Balthazar’s head. Ever since his past lives had surfaced a few weeks ago, he couldn’t help but feel a little worried and concerned for the blonde. He hadn’t seen any signs of his past lives surfacing.</p><p> </p><p>So far, that was a good sign. But he had just hoped and prayed that it meant that his past lives were finally at some form of peace. Maybe that meant that Balthazar’s soul itself would be at peace. He just hoped that it would be that way that was all that he wanted.</p><p> </p><p>Then of course, there is the emotional aspect to everything as well as mentally. The whole thing with Shadow attacking his family home, how the demon had managed to get the blonde’s parents and had them even attack his sister. There was just no way of knowing what he could do, what he should do and it just had Balthazar all the more worried. It was obvious, though he just hoped that the blonde would allow himself to relax should Shadow…</p><p> </p><p>No, no, no, no, he shouldn’t be thinking about things like that! It would only ruin their happy mood! Shaking his head, Vinnie removed the frown on his face and replaced it with a smile before he sat down on the couch with the blonde. “Here, I got you your tea.” He chuckled a little before leaning back, leaning himself partly on the couch, and partly on Balthazar’s shoulder. His one leg stretched on the couch, just making himself comfortable. “So, whatcha looking for?” asked the Incubus.</p><p> </p><p>“Just trying to find a good movie but there isn’t anything good enough.” Balthazar responded with a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“Here, gimme the remote.” Vinnie said with a frown. Balthazar of course, didn’t want to surrender the remote. Wanting to see if he could find something to watch himself though of course, the Incubus had been able to wrestle the remote away from his boyfriend before he flipped through the channels himself only to stare with wide eyes. “Awesome! Back to the Future, and they’re showing all three movies!”</p><p> </p><p>The demon couldn’t help but feel giddy with excitement, he’s seen the movies when they first came out, didn’t matter to him since the movies were so well done. Just like the original Karate Kid movies, those were amazing as well. Chuckling, he looked over and frowned when he saw the confusion in the blonde’s eyes as Vinnie asked “Did you ever watch these movies?”</p><p> </p><p>“No, my mother and father never allowed my sister and I to watch movies like this because they didn’t believe that the facts were correct or that it would have rotten my mind away from paranormal hunting.” Balthazar pointed out, only for Vinnie to stare with wide eyes. Did he just hear this right? The man had <em>never</em> seen Back to the Future?!</p><p> </p><p>“Oh my god! We must fix this right away! Thankfully for you, I am very knowledgeable of this movie franchise so we are watching all three movies!” Vinnie declared with a smirk on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“What have I gotten myself into with falling in love with you?” Balthazar said with a roll of his eyes, but the faintest hints of a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“A life full of fun!” Vinnie responded with a big and bright smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar of course just rolled his eyes at the Incubus before chuckling and leaned against the couch as they both watched the movie. Vinnie was pretty much bouncing in his seat though kept himself in his very comfortable position. He had seen these movies so many times he pretty much could mouth the lines with the movie, no matter if its screams, the sound effects or what have you, he could do it.</p><p> </p><p>He was giddy with excitement that his wings had sprouted from his back once again, and smacked his boyfriend in the face. Balthazar yelped out in shock as well as pain before giving a disappointed look. Vinnie just rubbed the back of his head with a nervous chuckle and went to pull his wings back in till Balthazar decided to lean against the shorter man and all but snuggle himself against Vinnie’s wings.</p><p> </p><p>Of course, the Incubus tried to suppress a shudder that went through his body. Even just something as simple as that was enough to set him off and that was what he hated about that. Sure, he had learned to get better control over himself after all these years but still, it was so tempting!</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the demon tried to keep his focus on the TV, explaining a few things to Balthazar as the movie went on. Explaining who Doc Brown was, who Marty was and so on. Balthazar though seemed to have been really into it. Seemed that he had never thought of aspect of time travel being anything more than a fantasy. A theory that no one could have ever been able to do or ever think of.</p><p> </p><p>Most likely because of consequences for the most part.</p><p> </p><p>But, it did make Vinnie think about it himself.</p><p> </p><p>If he had that kind of ability, he could easily go back and change the course of history itself. Being able to prevent the deaths of all of Balthazar’s past lives. Making sure that they all had the lives that they could and should have had in the end. Living their lives fully with no issue from anyone or anything for that matter.</p><p> </p><p>Yet…</p><p> </p><p>Slowly, he turned his gaze over to the man next to him. If he had gone back, would this version of Balthazar have ever been born? Would he have been reincarnated a fifth time in the end? Or even reincarnated at all? Giving Vinnie all the time and memories that he had spent with the man in all of his lives? He didn’t know, but felt like there wouldn’t have been a ‘them’ like this. There was no way of knowing, as time itself was something that he could never understand. He just hoped that maybe he could understand someday…</p><p> </p><p>But for now, he was happy with the man that was next to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie, what’s wrong?” asked Balthazar, having noticed the shorter man staring at him.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking slowly, trying to clear his thoughts from everything that was happening before he just gave a small smile. “Nah, nothing’s wrong Balthazar. Just thinking about all the times that we have shared so far ya know? I’m also thinking of the kind of future that we could have together in… the Future.”</p><p> </p><p>“A time joke? Really?” Balthazar blandly said.</p><p> </p><p>“You know you love my jokes.” Vinnie replied with a big grin on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“I despise your jokes.” Balthazar whispered softly with a small smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh? But I thought you <em>love</em> my jokes.”</p><p> </p><p>“There is one thing I love and it isn’t the jokes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Which is what <em>Balthy?”</em></p><p> </p><p>Rolling his eyes, Balthazar pulled Vinnie toward him and kissed him. “I love you, you silly dolty snack Incubus.”</p><p> </p><p>“That doesn’t have a good ring to it.”</p><p> </p><p>“I was thinking snack hound but… well, given your status of species and all.”</p><p> </p><p>“Am I interrupting something?” asked a familiar woman’s voice.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes open, Vinnie slowly looked over toward the doorway of the trailer as he felt the blood rushing to his face as he stared at his boyfriend’s sister. Zoey just smirked at the two blushing men before she walked further into the living area and grabbed a seat across from the two men. Honestly, Vinnie had no idea what he was to say right now, he felt the words die in his throat before anything else.</p><p> </p><p>“What brings you by?” asked Balthazar, his voice sounding really squeaky but, it was kinda cute.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey let out a soft sigh before crossing her legs as she sat in the chair. Her hands were resting on her ankles as she looked between both the hunter, and the Incubus. Vinnie wasn’t sure if she was even going to ask anything, though he just wanted this over with right now. He was missing Back to the Future! The one movie franchise that he could share with Balthazar and it was kinda starting to be ruined right now.</p><p> </p><p>The young woman before them just stared before lowering her gaze. “Well, I’ve been doing research from one of the many journals that I’ve brought with me from home.” She said softly. Balthazar shuddered at the reminder of the journals. It was something that Vinnie had to force out of the man until he could learn more about the journals. It was something that had bothered him that his family had kept an actual record of the murders and had tried to keep it a secret so to speak, or had even forgotten about most of it.</p><p> </p><p>Now though, he just hoped and prayed that they wouldn’t have had to deal with those journals again…</p><p> </p><p>Well, until now anyway, and he was upset about it because it was being brought up again!</p><p> </p><p>“What about them?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey bit her lower lip, seeming to be a little nervous with what she was going to share. “It mentions that Shadow had another means to try to end the curse. He brought it up that to ensure that it doesn’t happen again was that he could take them to the demon realm.” Vinnie’s eyes widened at that, okay that was something that he hadn’t heard about before. Now he was scared of what it was that he was about to hear. Gulping a little, the demon looked between the Cavendish siblings, feeling like he shouldn’t be here for this tale.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar though just tilted his head at his sister. It seemed that he had no idea as to what it was that would make hunters go to the demon realm in the first place. Or even why Shadow would bring them to the demon realm in the first place. It just seemed strange, and of course had him wondering what it was that his sister was even talking about. Vinnie had to admit seeing the confused look on his boyfriend’s face was really adorable.</p><p> </p><p>Why did he have to be adorable?</p><p> </p><p>“I believe grandmother had mentioned about such a tale but, I believe that was all it was. No one can go to the demon realm but demons.” Balthazar calmly said before leaning back in his seat. Snuggling against the Incubus’ wings, Vinnie of course shuddered a little at the sensation. “The only way to get to that realm, was if they had a demon working for them.” He concluded with a shake of his head before crossing his arms.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone in the room was silent for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>Did he not get what it was that was being said right now? Had he not listened to what it was that his sister was saying right now? Though, it seemed that the blonde had noticed both his sister, and the Incubus were staring at him before asking “What?”</p><p> </p><p>“Balthazar, Shadow is a demon. If anything, he used his power to open the realm and make it seem that he used some kind of magic to open a portal so they wouldn’t have suspected him of being a demon.” Zoey blandly said. Was that stare something that only the Cavendish family could do? Because it was weird to see that look coming from Zoey of all people. But, well…</p><p> </p><p>“She does have a point.” Vinnie said with a frown.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh…”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just shook his head before looking back over to Zoey as he asked “So… what about the journal anyway?” Damn his curiosity. Though maybe that was how the Fire Lycans were wiped out?  Maybe it would give Crystal some kind of peace of mind at the idea of knowing how the hunters got to her people in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey frowned a little before turning her gaze toward Vinnie for a brief moment before looking back to her brother. “Well, Shadow’s plan was to try to wipe out the Incubus that was bewitching the family’s soul for hundreds of years.” Yeah, he was really starting to hate this, though he knew that he had to listen… or, maybe he could somehow sneak out and find an excuse to get food or something? He wasn’t sure, but so wanted to leave right now.</p><p> </p><p>“Shadow knew where the Incubus was, so he went to the palace it seemed as that was where the hunters were lead too.” Zoey frowned a little before lowering her gaze before adding “So, he led them to the palace where Incubi ruled. Guess they were trying to try to disband them by killing the royal family.” The strawberry blonde woman said with a shrug. Vinnie clenched his hand into a tight fist. “Since, without the royal family the Incubi wouldn’t know who to turn to and therefore, they would have to listen to the hunters if it meant saving their own skin.”</p><p> </p><p>He felt his hands starting to sweat right now, why were they sweating so much right now? Vinnie just wasn’t sure why he was even still sitting there, he wanted to leave but feared of moving. For if he moved then Balthazar will know that something is bugging him because for one, he’d <em>never </em>walk out on their couch cuddling.</p><p> </p><p>“The hunters had found the royal family, but the only one to survive was the prince it had seemed.” Zoey said softly, causing Balthazar to frown a little in confusion. “The only body that wasn’t there when the hunters stabbed the kings with blessed swords, was the prince as the kings turned to ashes once they were dead.”</p><p> </p><p>“But why would they go through so much trouble to kill kings?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Because they wanted the prince.” Vinnie whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” both siblings said in confusion as they stared at the Incubus with confusion. It seemed that they hadn’t expected him to say anything, it was as if the words just shot out of his mouth rather than staying in his head.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie didn’t even know why he said it himself. Honestly, he had hoped that it had stayed in his head rather than going anywhere where he would actually be vocal of his thoughts. Breathing deeply, the demon looked over at the siblings for a moment before lowering his gaze once again. His wings even sunk a little before letting out a soft sigh. “They were looking for me, I knew they were. Why else would… would they…” The Incubus’ body was trembling in the process.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota?”</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie?”</p><p> </p><p>“I… I’m…”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re the prince… aren’t you?” Zoey whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked at his sister, before turning his gaze back onto the Incubus. “Are you really a prince Dakota? Why didn’t you tell me?” asked the blonde, it seemed that he hadn’t expected such a thing in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie gave him a small smile before giving out a big laugh. “Because it wasn’t important. I haven’t been a prince in over fifty years. It’s also why I have some of the abilities I have. What’s a higher rank than a prince? The wings is a royal trait, the transformation is also pretty much a royal trait and it’s why I need to feed more. I have more power, but I just don’t use it… I pretty much gave up my title when I ran.” He then covered his face as he tried not to cry, the memories, even though for a human would have been long time but for a demon? Had only felt like maybe days? Weeks at most since time for a demon meant nothing.</p><p> </p><p>Well, depending on the scenario such as the loss of a lover.</p><p> </p><p>“Dakota… what happened?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep shuddering breath, Vinnie looked between the two siblings, it just seemed that there was always something coming in his life that would cause him some kind of pain. No matter if it was either emotional or physical pain. Or both, mostly both.</p><p> </p><p>“It all started so long ago I guess, I was just trying to enjoy my day but really? I couldn’t…”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Vinnie sat around in his room, letting out a soft sigh the Incubus rolled onto his side as he gazed out the window. It had been maybe a couple weeks since Katherina’s death and the pain was still ever persistent. He had so many memories with her, so many times that he felt like he could keep laughing and enjoy himself. Yet, he hadn’t been there for her.</em>
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  <em>He had been so worried about her that night… knowing that she was late coming back to their home, Vinnie couldn’t help but go out looking for her. Using what sense of smell that he had to try to locate her. Even though his sense of smell is nothing compared to Crystal’s or even Blade’s for that matter, but had still been able to find her…</em>
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  <em>In a pool of her own blood and he knew that he was losing her.</em>
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  <em>Sniffling a little, Vinnie wiped at his eyes, trying to forget about the memory. But no matter what he did, he just couldn’t forget. Could never forget, even thinking about it had caused the scar on his chest to burn a little at the memory of losing yet another lover.</em>
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  <em>“Son?” came a familiar voice.</em>
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  <em>Blinking slowly, Vinnie rolled over in his bed as he looked over and saw a man that looked like a slightly older version of the young Incubus himself. The older man was dressed in simple blue robes that was a sign of his royal heritage. Though, Vinnie himself wore robes similar to the older man but kept the robes untucked and kept pants on for sure. Though never bothered with shoes most of the time.</em>
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  <em>“Yeah dad?” came Vinnie’s voice, trying to play off his sadness as nothing. Trying to pretend that there was nothing wrong with him.</em>
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  <em>Yet, his dad’s concerned amber coloured eyes looked at his son before taking a seat next to him. “I know that you’re sad Vinnie. Losing a loved one isn’t easy… for you though, you lost your lover four times-“</em>
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  <em>“Not helping dad.” Vinnie pointed out.</em>
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  <em>“Right, sorry. Your father is better at this than I am.” His dad said with a soft sigh as he ran a hand through his thick curly brown hair. Sighing softly, the older man looked over at his son before pulling his son into a side hug. Vinnie let out a soft sigh as he laid his head on his dad’s shoulder. It just seemed so painful, no one could understand the pain that Vinnie was going through. No one could, it was a pain that was just so much worse. Finding your true love, only to lose them, then find them again only… only to end up losing them all over again. The thought of having to keep going through this for all eternity that just seemed like a hell that no one should ever go through.</em>
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  <em>His dad let out a soft sigh before running his hand through his son’s hair. “Look, I know it isn’t easy going through what you’re going through. No one can understand it, but you are so strong my son.” Vinnie frowned as he looked at his dad. “Think about it, most demons would have given up already. You, you fell for a human, four times and you just keep finding them somehow and fall in love all over again. Many people, demons or humans can’t say they fall for the same soul over and over again.”</em>
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  <em>Looking up, Vinnie was thinking about what it was that his dad was even saying. His dad though just smiled before petting his son’s head. “Go out, enjoy yourself alright? Maybe Crystal and Blade could help cheer you up.”</em>
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  <em>Vinnie nodded before pushing himself from his bed as he said “Alright, thanks dad.” He grinned a bright smile, but really he was forcing it for the sake of his dad more than anything else in the world. Sighing softly, the young man walked out of his room, folded his hands behind his head as he started to hum softly. He looked back to his room for a moment as he saw his dad walking out of his room and started to walk off.</em>
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  <em>Most likely walking to go find his father.</em>
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  <em>Letting out a soft sigh, he knew that this was going to be a difficult time for him again. It would take a while before he could overcome this sadness. Just wishing, hoping to get his life back on track but he just wasn’t sure if he could. Maybe he should go to the dining hall and get himself some food. Yeah, food sounded really good right about now. He just wanted to have some kind of comfort food.</em>
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  <em>Once he got to the dining hall, Vinnie took a seat and asked for the chief to just bring him as much food as they could cook for him. The chiefs of course had gone so far out of their way to cook for their prince. Only wanting to comfort him in some way to overcome his pain and suffering.</em>
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  <em>Vinnie had no idea how long he had been in the dining hall. He had been eating his food until he felt something on his shoulder. Nearly making him jump out of his skin as he looked over his shoulder and saw his friends. Crystal had her sword at her hip like always, dressed in red robes. Yet, the robes themselves were still open for free movement for the Fire Lycan.</em>
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  <em>Next to her was Blade, dressed in similar robes but his were mixes of blues, both light and dark. Maybe a black sash around his waist.</em>
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  <em>“Vinnie, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in the grand hall with your dads?” asked Crystal with a frown.</em>
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  <em>“I didn’t know about the grand hall. I don’t even know how long I’ve been in here for.” Vinnie calmly explained before grabbing a napkin and wiped his mouth. “What are they doing?” asked the Incubus as he set the napkin on the table. A small burp escaped him as he patted his stomach. Oh man, the chief’s had outdone themselves this time. He couldn’t help but smile at the food before looking back at his adopted siblings.</em>
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  <em>Well, adopted siblings as well as his personal guards.</em>
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  <em>“I’m not sure, but we think the kings have decided to pass on some new rule when it comes to feeding from humans.” Blade said with a shrug of his shoulders.</em>
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  <em>Vinnie couldn’t help but frown a little at that one. It was really weird that his parents would suddenly decide to have some kind of meeting now of all times but just shrugged before he started to make his way to the grand hall. “So, what do you two think the meeting is about anyway?”</em>
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  <em>“I kinda agree with what Blade said. It has to be about how they feed from humans. After all, you fell in love with a human how many times now? If anything, they are trying to change it so others don’t just feed from humans and kill them like how a good portion of them do.” Crystal calmly said before folding her hands into the sleeves of her robes.</em>
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  <em>Vinnie had to agree with that. It had been that way, a lot of Incubi would feed from humans for a long time and end up killing them after a while. Or even just kill them the first night and that was what frightened the Incubus sometimes. That he was going to end up being like them, but… he hadn’t. He never lost who he was and for that he had been thankful.</em>
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  <em>It made him want to try to be there to help his parents, but help them understand that everything didn’t have to be the way they thought it did. Vinnie just hoped that he would have the knowledge to help them understand or learn other ways to feed without needing to screw a human into submission or anything of the like.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Though just as they reached the grand hall, a loud crash was heard. Causing the trio to blink their eyes in confusion before Vinnie rushed and pushed the doors. The doors slammed into the wall, nearly cracking as they did so.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>What he saw though, was enough to make Vinnie’s heart nearly stop in his chest.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>For there was nothing more than a massacre.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Father! Dad!” shouted the prince as he rushed forward, trying to reach his parents.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Vinnie’s dad, and another man that had shoulder length curly hair and bright blue eyes tried to run to their son. Both parents and child ran toward each other, but the kings were pulled back and slammed to the ground. His dad cried out in pain, his wings, leathery and bat like tried to pull him off of the ground and take to the air.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Yet a human, a hunter managed to cut the king’s wings clean off. Vinnie cried out in shock and fear as he kept trying to run to his parents.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>But Crystal and Blade held onto their friend and tried to pull him to safety.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Run! Run Vincent! Don’t look back, just keep running and stay safe my child!” shouted his father, his blue eyes filled with tears as he struggled to fight his way to freedom. His dad’s amber coloured eyes stared at him with tears filling his eyes, both from pain and fear, yet he nodded his head, agreeing with his husband.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I can’t leave you!”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Do it now!” shouted his father.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Get him! That’s the demon that’s bewitched your ancestors for years! Kill him, and the curse is over!” shouted a man, Vinnie couldn’t locate him in the crowd. But he knew that there was someone there, someone that knew who he was but he just couldn’t pin point who it was.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Crystal, Blade! Take our son and be safe! Please!” pleaded Vinnie’s father.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes your majesty.” Blade said before pulling on Vinnie with all his might. Vinnie of course, screamed and cried to be let go. To go to his parents in the hopes of being able to save them. That there was still a ways to get all three members of the royal family to safety…</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>But Crystal and Blade just pulled the prince away, and it was then that Vinnie knew… that his parents weren’t coming out of this alive…</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“After that day, Crystal, Blade and I hid in the human world. We waited a few years or so to learn more about human behavior and the like. Since I’ve been around a human on and off for a while I knew. Crystal and Blade had to learn which took them a while.” Vinnie said with a soft sigh. Covering his eyes, he let out a weak sob. “But… to know that my parents… died because some sick and twisted fucker wanted you? And knew that no matter what he did to have you couldn’t because you were in love with me?!” Vinnie felt his heart being crushed in that moment. “It’s my fault that not just you kept dying on me but my parents are dead because of me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie.” Balthazar whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s all my fucking fault!” Vinnie shouted before he pushed himself up and punched at his wall. Leaving a dent out of his anger and rage that seemed to boil down to the pent up emotions that he never knew he even had. Breathing deeply, the demon fell to his knees as he cried. Why?! Why did this have to keep happening?! No matter what he did, there was always something that would slap him across the face in the hopes of knocking him down the moment he thought that he could be happy.</p><p> </p><p>“So, they thought if they took out Vinnie… that the curse would be done. And Shadow would have a better chance at having Balthazar in his next life. So when they never found you, they must have thought another hunter got you and your body turned to ash. Assuming you were already dead so they left.” Zoey whispered before shaking her head as she let out a soft sigh. “I think we may need to do some research on Shadow.” She suggested.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie looked up with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Think about it, he must have a weakness. Balthazar even said that he had pretty much admitted to it. It’s something that we don’t have access to and then of course Crystal somehow was able to hurt him.” Zoey explained.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar looked over at his sister and hummed softly in thought. Vinnie blinked his eyes in confusion. He had forgotten about that, Crystal had been able to hurt him somehow, but what was it that could have hurt Shadow in the first place? Shadow was hit by weapons and hadn’t been able to really hit him unless he became solid or something like that.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal was in some kind of panicked state when she grabbed the fucker- wait… was it love? Was love somehow a thing? That couldn’t be possible right? After all it wasn’t something that could be ‘bottled’ up so easily if at all. But if that was the case, how cliché was that?!</p><p> </p><p>“We must do research and quickly!” Balthazar declared.</p><p> </p><p>Ah fuck, more research? Fucking damn it.</p><p> </p><p>Though, Vinnie knew that Balthazar had a point.</p><p> </p><p>If they were going to find anything, that they would have to find a means of killing Shadow. Though he didn’t want to involve his boyfriend any more than he already has. He was going to have to do some research of his own so he could find a means of not just finding the bastard, but killing the son of a bitch so he could never harm another person ever again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>yup, some of Vinnie's abilities are because of his royal heritage. Shadow had figured that if he killed both Vinnie and his parents, that there would be a less chance of him being reborn with Balthazar since Balthazar was always reborn within the Cavendish line, and should Vinnie die, he would possibly be reborn in his family line if they were to have another relative. Now, I hope you like this chapter because next chapter Vinnie may be a little crazy. also, I like both Back to the Future and the original Karate Kid, they're awesome</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Research Again?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar is worried about his Incubus, though what he sees just raises a red flag before he decides to take everyone to look for a weakness.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar paced back and forth in his trailer. Everything that had happened thus far was centered on Shadow. The man that had flirted with Balthazar was a monster. Was a creature that not only steals souls, but was also after Balthazar himself. Even going as far as killing his past lives because they wouldn’t leave Vinnie for him.</p><p> </p><p>Rubbing at his face, the young man wasn’t sure what he was to do. It just felt like everything was trying to close in on him. He knew that this was going to be trouble, because now his own life was in danger. Looking over toward the window of his trailer before making his way over toward it. Staring out the window, he couldn’t help but stare at Vinnie’s trailer. It just made him worry for his demon’s heart.</p><p> </p><p>He hadn’t really felt the same since learning that the reason behind his parents deaths, was because Shadow wanted to ensure… something. Balthazar theorized that it was so, should Vinnie be out of the picture that when Balthazar had been reborn into this life that Shadow would have a better chance at being with the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Personally? The young man didn’t think it would even bother with him in the first place. He was just so worried for Vinnie, and panicked about his own safety as well as his demons. Letting out a soft sigh, Balthazar made his way over to the couch and sat down. Unsure as to what he could do, what he should do at the moment. He just wasn’t sure what he was to do, unsure as to how he could comfort his demon.</p><p> </p><p>Sighing softly, the young man curled up in a ball as he was trying to think as to what it was that he should do. It just seemed that everything was coming up empty handed. The attacks, the threats, him going through all that he could in order to get information. Even though when it came to asking his past lives with help from Crystal, he had no idea what had happened during that time, so Crystal had to be the one to talk to his past lives.</p><p> </p><p>Though, Balthazar felt bad for going through with it, even with the risks of what would happen should it have gone wrong.</p><p> </p><p>Closing his eyes for a brief moment, the young man just wasn’t sure what he was to do. It just seemed as if everything that was happening was being thrown at him in some way. Either in the literal sense, or the figurative sense. Now, he just wasn’t sure if he and Vinnie were in the right state of mind to do much of anything other than to talk maybe? He wasn’t sure, Balthazar wanted to talk to Vinnie but was unsure as to how he should even do that in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>Laying on the couch, he just let out a soft sigh. Just thinking about everything was emotionally draining and he wanted to shout at something. Anything would be fine actually.</p><p> </p><p>Though he wasn’t sure if he had a right to do so. There was no way that he could do much of anything when it came to Vinnie and he hoped that he could do at least do something for his demon, but was unsure as to what he should do. Sighing once again, he rolled onto his side as he was lost in his own thoughts once again. It just felt like he was lost, a lost and frightened child that needed someone to come and save him.</p><p> </p><p>Which, would either end up saving him or getting him killed wouldn’t it?</p><p> </p><p>Groaning, the young man covered his face only to throw himself to sit up on the couch as he decided that he was going to march himself over toward his door only to stop himself from doing so. Could he even do this? Should he even do this?</p><p> </p><p>“Balthy what are you doing?” asked Zoey, nearly making the young man jump out of his skin. Blinking his eyes, he looked over at his sister as she just stared at her brother with her arms crossed. “You are up to something brother.” She said with a frown on her face. Of course, all the things that had to happen was his sister finding him during one of his internal struggles with himself.</p><p> </p><p>Groaning, he covered his face for a moment before lowering his hands from his face as he looked over at his sister. “I’m… just trying to think on what to do. Dakota hasn’t been himself since he shared his tale over what happened to his parents. I’m worried but at the same time I want to give him his space.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s been a week, Shadow isn’t going to keep waiting until he attacks you.” Zoey calmly said with a soft sigh before shaking her head. It seemed that she had gotten tired of seeing this and had been planning something herself. “Look, you’re not going to find something if you don’t go out to look for it.” She pointed out with a shake of her head.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar frowned a little at that. Okay, she had a point there. They wouldn’t find anything if they didn’t go and look for any kind of information in the first place. Taking a deep breath, the young man rubbed at his temples as he was feeling a little exhausted. “So, what do you propose that we do then sister?” asked Balthazar with a bland stare on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Zoey just rolled her eyes before walking over to her brother, pulling out a note book before slamming it against his chest. “Go talk to your man, see if he had done anything other than crying his eyes out and having done actual research.” To be honest, the demon doing research was something that he couldn’t really see happening. There was no point in asking if Vinnie had done anything of the sort in the first place. Though the glare that Zoey was giving him made him fear for his own safety.</p><p> </p><p>“Just go talk to him Balthazar!”</p><p> </p><p>Okay, full name need to run!</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar ran out of the trailer at full speed in that moment. The young man knew better than to stick around when his sister was angry, and used his full name. Last time she did that, well he was in the hospital for a few days for a broken arm.</p><p> </p><p>Though he knew that if anything, he was going to have to get to Vinnie’s trailer. If not to do research, at least to hide from his sister.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath the young man looked up at his demon’s trailer as he let out a soft sigh. He didn’t hear any crying or sobbing so that had to mean something for the time being. Tilting his head a little, Balthazar couldn’t help but frown a little at that before thinking maybe Vinnie was asleep. That had to mean something right? Was Vinnie sleeping now? Or had he just cried so much that his voice had gone hoarse from over use.</p><p> </p><p>Closing his eyes for a brief moment, the blonde reached forward and grabbed a hold of the handle of the trailer door before opening and walking inside.</p><p> </p><p>Though instead of finding a distress demon, he saw Vinnie hunched forward over a bunch of papers, writing something down and mumbling to himself. Headphones on his head as per usual, though it was strange that he was… well he wasn’t sure what it was that he was doing. Looking down at his feet, Balthazar saw that some of the papers had been scattered throughout the trailer. Making him rather curious as to what it was that he was trying to figure out.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, he carefully picked up the piece of paper, a few things were crossed out but he could make out a bit of writing.</p><p> </p><p>Possible weaknesses.</p><p> </p><p>Weaknesses? What the devil was he trying to find the weakness for? It made no sense to him, unless… Was Vinnie trying to find the weakness for Shadow? Had this been something that he had been doing for the last week? Trying to figure out a possible weakness for Shadow so he could avenge his parents as well as Balthazar’s past lives? As well as the many others that Shadow had hurt and all for what? His strange and rather creepy obsession with the blonde?</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, Balthazar slowly made his way over toward Vinnie and noticed the way his thick curls were… rather oily and wired. When was the last time he had a bath or at least a shower? Taking a better look at his clothes, he saw that the Incubus was wearing dirty clothes that was stained with either cheeto dust, sweat, grease and much more that he couldn’t think of. Frowning, the blonde couldn’t help but frown for the man before him.</p><p> </p><p>Was Vinnie obsessed with trying to avenge people? Trying to find a means to get back at the man that had ruined everything good in his life? Having him shed more tears in his life than what should have been shed? He had no idea, but knew that this kind of obsession wasn’t healthy. Sure, it was good to try to get some kind of information to help with defeating an enemy, but this was so much worse.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, he carefully made his way over toward his demon, wanting to make sure not to frighten Vinnie in any way since he was very distracted with what he was doing. The moment he placed a hand on the shorter man’s shoulder, only for Vinnie to jolt. Before Balthazar knew what had happened, he found the demon before him grabbing a hold of the blonde’s hand and flipped him onto the table.</p><p> </p><p>The table smashed upon impact.</p><p> </p><p>Groaning, Balthazar rubbed at the back of his head before he felt a weight upon his waist, a hand grasping at his shirt and lifted him up a bit. Staring with wide eyes, the young man couldn’t help but stare at Vinnie as the demon’s eyes were aglow in blue and amber, much like they were when he was hungry. But this wasn’t the gaze of a hungry creature, but an angry one. The man had his fist pulled back, as if he was about to throw a punch to knock the man out or worse. Balthazar quickly tried to shield his face as he shouted “It’s me Vinnie! It’s Balthazar!”</p><p> </p><p>A growl escaped Vinnie before he leaned in closer and tilted his head. Sniffing at Balthazar a couple times before rubbing at his head with a deep sigh. “Balthazar? What are you doing here?” Vinnie whispered softly, the glow in his eyes slowly started to dim down till only beautiful orbs of blue and amber remained.</p><p> </p><p>“I… I was worried about you.” Balthazar answered.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie let out a soft sigh before pushing himself off of the blonde before helping him up. Once Balthazar was on his feet, the demon started to help dust him off. Even going as far as fixing the blonde’s hair that had gotten a little askew during the whole smashing through the table debacle.</p><p> </p><p>The young man frowned a little before grabbing a hold of Vinnie’s hands and looked at him. Frowning more, he noticed that his demon’s hands felt a little cold, cold to the touch actually, almost like ice. His skin looked a little pale and he had dark circles under his eyes. “Dakota, haven’t you been sleeping?”</p><p> </p><p>“No time to sleep. I have to look for a weakness to kill the bastard that is the cause of so many problems and so many deaths and destruction and-“</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Slap</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“What-“</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Slap</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Balthazar what are you-“</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Slap</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Will you-“</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Slap</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Can you just-“</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar went for another slap only for Vinnie to catch the blonde’s wrist. Narrowing his eyes as they soon started to glow to show his anger once again. “Stop doing that!” snarled the demon, tightening his hold a little on the blonde but not enough to cause any serious discomfort. Just enough to tell the blonde that the Incubus was seriously irritated over the slaps.</p><p> </p><p>To be honest, he should be afraid of Vinnie in this moment but honestly, he wasn’t. He knew that when he slapped the demon in front of him that it was a risk. After all, with one being human and the other being an Incubus and so much stronger than the hunter… Balthazar just wasn’t afraid. There was no point in being afraid of him, not ever again really. As he knew, that Vinnie would never hurt him, not even during a small fit of anger or rage.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry, but I’m worried about your health. When was the last time you slept?” Balthazar whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe… the day I told the story of my parents deaths.”</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie… that was a week ago! How are you still awake?! You know what, never mind. You are having a nap then we’re going to the library to do research there.” Balthazar ordered while crossing his arms across his chest. Showing the demon that there was no room for debate on this. Vinnie whined before trying to pout. “No point in trying to act all cute now Dakota, you will have a nap and I’ll make sure of it. Now come on.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar then grabbed a hold of the demon and walked with him toward Vinnie’s room. Of course, the Incubus whined a little more though the blonde wasn’t going to allow him to whine, he was going to ensure that Vinnie at least had a nap. Sleep was everything to help energize you when food didn’t. The blonde knew that it was a silly notion since one was a demon but he wasn’t going to risk Vinnie’s health. With that, he tucked the man in bed who was still pouting.</p><p> </p><p>“Sleep.”</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t wanna.”</p><p> </p><p>“Would you want me to cuddle you then so you will sleep?”</p><p> </p><p>“That…” Vinnie began, only to frown a little. “Actually that sounds nice.” He added.</p><p> </p><p>Rolling his eyes, the young man removed his waist coat, setting it aside before crawling in bed with Vinnie. The demon smiled before snuggling against the blonde as he let out a soft sigh. “I’m setting an alarm to wake us up in a bit alright? If you want afterwards, we’ll go to the library to gather research.”</p><p> </p><p>“But how can a library do that?” asked Vinnie with a yawn.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, this is a library of hunters, and holds onto what we use to hunt and kill demons with.” Vinnie flinched. “Sorry, maybe if we can find out what is so rare, it would lead us to how to kill Shadow.” The demon nodded his head before drifting off to sleep. Balthazar smiled a little before kissing his demon’s forehead. This was going to be an interesting nap for sure. Yawning softly, he drifted off to sleep.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Once their nap was done, Vinnie had gone to his bathroom to get himself washed up. Balthazar of course, made sure that the demon would get himself showered up and put in some clean clothes before they went anywhere. Sure, he loved the man like no other, but there is no way that he would allow himself to be seen with his demon in such a state. Rolling his eyes, the young man sat down on the couch as he looked around the trailer.</p><p> </p><p>Frowning, the young man couldn’t help but stare at the remains of the table. Vinnie was going to have to replace it. Tilting his head a little, he wondered if Brick was going to throw a fit over everything that had happened. Though they would have to think of a means to explain all of this. Letting out a soft sigh, Balthazar shook his head, thinking that maybe they would have to be sneaky about replacing the table before the manager would find out.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up, he saw that Vinnie was walking out of his bathroom dressed in his usual attire. Balthazar smiled a little as he said “There is my handsome Incubus.” The demon blushed a little as he rubbed at the back of his head. “Now, we should message Blade and Crystal, they will have to take us there.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why?” asked Vinnie with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, the nearest hunter library is a few cities over. If we want to get there at a decent time we’ll have to use Blade’s shadow control to get there.” Balthazar said with a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“You haven’t experienced it though-“</p><p> </p><p>“I know enough. Zoey got through by holding onto Crystal and kept her eyes shut. I figured I would hold onto you, to ensure my safety through the rifts of shadows.” Balthazar calmly explained, at least from what he had been explained to him by his sister Zoey. It had confused him, as well as had him curious as to how the whole, traveling through shadows worked for Blade though at the same time hadn’t bothered with trying it since he had no need for such a thing at the time. Now? He kind of had no other choice but to travel through the shadows.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie though still looked a little concerned about the idea of it. Though it seemed that his desire (obsession?) was still as strong as before though he at least seemed a little more at ease. Taking a deep breath, the demon ran a hand through his hair as he said “Alright, but how would we get in? In case you haven’t noticed, you’re the only hunter among us.”</p><p> </p><p>He had a point, though that was why he still recalled some information. “But you are hidden by your personal seals right? Your necklace, Crystal’s bracelet and Blade’s earring right?” Vinnie blinked at that one, it seemed that he had forgotten about that for the time being. “Don’t forget, I hadn’t noticed you three were demons until Crystal had said something after my birthday.” The demon flinched a little at that one. “But the device I had had at least sensed you once. That was when I first found you in a towel and sweeping up your feathers.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blinked more at that one. It seemed that he really did forget a lot of things that had happened since they met. Balthazar just rolled his eyes as he explained “Think about it like this. If we can get to the library, and appear in an area where no one would notice us we should be safe. So long as you are with me, no one will suspect anything.” The blonde smiled a little, hoping that the man before him could understand.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, Vinnie seemed to have started to recall everything. Maybe he had forgotten about it because Balthazar knew about what the three were. How they were all demons and that the blonde was a human out of the group so because he was the first human to know what the curly haired man was, it must have made him forget.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, Balthazar looked at his phone as he said “I don’t have their numbers, can you message them and have Crystal and Blade meet us here?”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie nodded his head before he did as was asked.</p><p> </p><p>It didn’t take long for them all to be at the Incubus’ trailer. Blade of course was against the idea of going to a library made for hunters. Though Vinnie of course had told them that it was the best way to ensure Balthazar’s safety, as well as the future of any possible victims. Crystal was only coming because it had seemed that her white flames were the only thing that could stop the Soulless. Though downside, she still hadn’t any kind of control over the flames.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar didn’t know what he could do about that but he hoped that maybe it would be part of her instinct that she had fought so hard to ignore. Or, maybe she hadn’t known that she was ignoring them in the first place since due to not knowing the other half of her heritage.       This was going to be a long day for sure, though he just hoped that it would get easier as time went on.</p><p> </p><p>Once everyone had gathered, Blade had managed to get the four to the hunter’s library. The young man couldn’t help but feel himself shake and tremble a little before taking a deep breath. He rubbed at his forehead before he stumbled a little. Vinnie quickly caught the blonde as he asked “You okay?”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar nodded his head as he took a deep breath before looking up at Vinnie and blushed a little. He kept forgetting how close his demon would get to him though he wasn’t going to complain. Smiling, he just patted his demon’s shoulder, not wanting to draw any more attention to himself. Taking a deep breath, he looked over and saw that Blade looked really exhausted. Odd, he’s never seen the man that tired before.</p><p> </p><p>Was he still recovering from his soul nearly being stolen? Or was it something else? He wasn’t sure, though he just hoped that it was something that wouldn’t put his health at risk. Crystal though was holding onto Blade while he tried to catch his breath. The young man couldn’t help but want to make his way over toward the two but Vinnie held him back. Looking over his shoulder, the blonde saw his demon looking at him. “Just let those two be, they have hundreds of years to make up for right now. Now, how do we get in?”</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes a couple of times, the blonde looked around at their surroundings. Seeing that they were in the alley that was actually next door to their destination. It was mostly surrounded by bushes that would have kept them hidden the small group from the street. It was rather amazing just how far they had come since he was first assigned to be Vinnie’s personal body guard all those years ago.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he said “We’re not far. We’ll just have to get to the sidewalk at this point and that’s it. This building here-“ He patted the side of the building that was to his left. “Is the library of hunters. No one is allowed access to the inside unless they are hunters and have a means of getting through the biometric scanner.”</p><p> </p><p>“The bio whats-it?” Vinnie blinked his eyes in confusion as he stared at the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>“Biometric. Pretty much in my case they’d need both my hand scanned, as well as my eyes.”</p><p> </p><p>“Beautiful eyes at that.” Vinnie said with a grin.</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie, not now.” Crystal elbowed her friend in the ribs. Causing him to wince and whine at the impact. Balthazar though just chuckled as he gestured with his right hand for them all to follow him. Once they made their way out of the alley, he couldn’t help but raise his hand to shield his eyes from the bright light. It was pretty bright over here, barely a single cloud in the sky that just made him a little irritated at the sight. Almost wishing he had paid the extra charge for tinted lenses.</p><p> </p><p>“This way.” Balthazar said as he led everyone to the building. To anyone on the outside, it looked like a simple brick styled house. What windows it had, didn’t have any view of the inside as it looked like it was covered by black out curtains. The door itself looked like it was made of oak, but the blonde knew for a fact that it was made of reinforced steel. Making it impossible for anyone to try to break in through the front door.</p><p> </p><p>The windows, another story. Anyone tried to break that, they’d get a shock that would stun them as well as alert the authorities. It was something that the blonde had seen first-hand when he was a small boy. Looking over at his friends, he saw that Vinnie was about to peek in through the window. “Wait!” He shouted before quickly grabbing a hold of the demon as he sighed in relief. “Don’t, one touch and you could be on the ground stunned for a bit. I don’t know if it’d adjust for a demon but better to be safe than sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie could only nod his head at that.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out another sigh of relief, he let go of his Incubus before making his way up the stone steps before he looked around. Trying to find the scanner required for them all to get in. “Where the devil is it?” He mumbled to himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe we have the wrong house?” Crystal suggested.</p><p> </p><p>Blade groaned at the possibility.</p><p> </p><p>Just how tired was he?</p><p> </p><p>“No, I know this is the right house. Not even you could kick this door in, as it’s reinforced on the other side.” Balthazar pointed out before he grinned. “Found it!” He said with a laugh before hitting the brick under the ‘mailbox’ before it pulled into the wall and flipped to a panel. It had a hand scanner, as well as an iris scanner.</p><p> </p><p>Placing his hand on the hand print identification, it dinged. Then he leaned forward as he had his eyes scanned. Another ding and the door opened.</p><p> </p><p>“There we go.” Balthazar said with a grin on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone just blinked in shock before they followed him inside.</p><p> </p><p>When they walked inside, it was as if they were walking down the halls of a hospital. The halls themselves, were long and white, in a way it almost made Balthazar think back to his family home though not as fancy. Letting out a soft sigh, the young man lead the group further and further down the hallway. He looked around and didn’t even see any windows or even any doors.</p><p> </p><p>He felt like this was something that he couldn’t really understand but at the same time he knew that it was set up like this for some strange reason. Maybe it would set up a means of escape should a demon somehow enter. He couldn’t be sure, since no demon had been known to have gone into the building until now of course.</p><p> </p><p>“So, we’re like the first-“</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar slapped his hand over his demon’s mouth. “Shh! There are hidden cameras here! They can’t know.” He wouldn’t even tell them what he was talking about, they should know what it was that they were trying to say. Vinnie of course just blinked his eyes before nodding his head.</p><p> </p><p>“He has a point, we do have to be careful.” Crystal whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, there is no telling what would happen.” Blade whispered softly before taking a deep breath before looking over at everyone else. Balthazar nodded his head before he took a deep breath as they got to the end of the hall and frowned. It looked like it was a dead end, though the blonde knew otherwise. Taking a deep breath he pushed at the wall. It glowed green for a brief moment before it opened up to reveal an elevator.</p><p> </p><p>“Cool!” Crystal said with shocked awe. Stars could pretty much be seen in her eyes in that moment. Blade though just rolled his eyes but chuckled a little at seeing her expression. “Will it fit all of us though?” asked the Fire Lycan.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, it’s bigger than you think.” Balthazar calmly said before walking into the elevator. Everyone walked in after him before a ding was heard and it lowered. “Once we get to the bottom, we’ll be in the ‘library’ but it’s also a storage area. It would hold not just information, but inventory of what they hold onto for other hunters to use to hunt any kind of demon that they are having trouble with.” Explained the blonde before looking over at his friends. “Now, once we get there you’ll have to be careful about what you say and how you talk.”</p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean?” asked Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>“You all know you can’t talk about your race. Can’t mention all the things you’ve done in the past just in case they fact check it.” Balthazar went on and on about all the things that they would have to be careful with what they spoke. What they would talk about and so on. That their main focus was to figure out a means on how to kill Shadow and that was it.</p><p> </p><p>Of course, that was something that everyone could agree on for the most part.</p><p> </p><p>Once they got to the bottom, Balthazar led everyone down the hall that was now lined with cases and cases of shelves that was full of books, folders and so much more. The blonde knew that this was going to be difficult for them to try to figure out though he knew that they had to at least look in the ‘rare’ inventory. Turning his gaze over toward the group he calmly told them where they would have to go to.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone nodded their heads before following their friend. It didn’t take long to find the shelves before starting to go through the inventory list. If they could find the lowest lists of inventory on what could be used to kill a demon, that it would give them some kind of advantage over killing Shadow. Though he just hoped that it would be enough for him as well as the others.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Balthazar wasn’t sure if they would find anything, as there was still the slim chance of what it is that could kill Shadow being listed. There just had to be something that he was still missing but just wasn’t sure. Nothing on the notes that Vinnie had created had been enough. Sighing softly, the young man ran a hand through his blonde locks as he went over the list.</p><p> </p><p>There was a lot on the list, roots, herbs, and scents that would paralyze demons to make it easier to hunt and kill them. There was even details on how they had discovered the weaknesses to each and every demon that was in their data base. It made Balthazar sick to his stomach.</p><p> </p><p>Lifting his gaze, he saw Crystal already looking green at some of the details that was listed in the folder that she was going through. Odd, he’s never seen her sick before. “Crystal, are you okay?” asked the Incubus. Seems that even Vinnie noticed.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m okay.” She said with a small smile on her face.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar felt like she was just trying to say that to make them feel better. Or at least not to worry about everything that was going on. The group went back to their search in the hopes of finding something.</p><p> </p><p>Hours of searching… and they found nothing.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t get it, there is rare inventory here and even that is still easier to find. Nothing is low, nothing is out or anything of the sort! What is with that! It almost felt like they had spent all this time for nothing and that only irritated him all the more. Shaking his head, Balthazar looked up as he stared at the others. None of them had found anything.</p><p> </p><p>Blade was rubbing his temples.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie was rubbing his eyes from all the reading.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal looked sick still though not as green as before.</p><p> </p><p>“What are we to do?” asked Blade with a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“You all can die!” shouted a voice, only for it to start laughing.</p><p> </p><p>Everyone looked over and stared in shock as they saw the very man that had flirted with Balthazar a few times. His smile wide and creepy, filled with nothing but insanity though still some sign of him being coherent to his choices and his actions. But behind him was a large group that Balthazar knew were hunters. Even his own parents were among them.</p><p> </p><p>His blood drained away from his face in that moment. They didn’t even have a means of killing him and yet they were getting themselves surrounded.</p><p> </p><p>“Blade, get us back.” Vinnie hissed.</p><p> </p><p>Blade nodded as he quickly grabbed a hold of everyone, Vinnie wrapped his wings around them as the Soulless hunters had shot, thankfully plain arrows at the group. The Incubus winced from the pain and with that, they sank into the shadows. Balthazar of course held onto Vinnie out for dear life thinking that maybe this was it. That Shadow was either going to kill or take him away from Vinnie. Either way, he would somehow be separated from his demon, and that was the worst fear that he had swelling up within his chest.</p><p> </p><p>When they emerged from the shadows themselves, they saw that they weren’t back at the trailer like they had thought they would be. Instead they were only outside of the building. Balthazar stared with wide eyes, unsure as to what had happened as they all just stared in shock.</p><p> </p><p>“I… I don’t know what happened.” Blade whispered, he was in just as much shock as everyone else was.</p><p> </p><p>“We’ll have to fight…” Vinnie whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“But I don’t have a lot of bullets.” Balthazar said fearfully.</p><p> </p><p>“You have your self-defense training. It’ll have to do!” Crystal hissed to the man before pulling out her sword as she changed into her demon form. Blade followed right behind her as he got ready to fight. Vinnie and Balthazar both knew in that moment that they would have to fight in that moment. That there was no escape, either Shadow died, or they all died.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I pretty much have the last chapters edited at this point, just going over the last chapter now. Which, I rewrote because I didn't like how I had it. I kept repeating things over and over again so went back and wrote it again. Hoping you like this chapter because... the final battle is beginning.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. It Ends... But At What Cost?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The final battle to decide the fate of Balthazar. If he should live, or if his soul will be taken or even if he dies. What will happen? Will they be victorious? Or shall they fall?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Balthazar couldn’t help but stare with fear and worry coursing through his entire being. It made him think that this was it. That this was going to decide his fate, either he was going to live, or he was going to die in this moment. Tightly shutting his eyes, the young man took a deep breath as he pulled out his gun. If he ran out of bullets, he at least still had his training thanks to Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Turning his gaze over to Crystal, Blade and Vinnie, he saw that they all were getting their respective weapons ready.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal had her sword at ready.</p><p> </p><p>Blade had his charm transformed into… was that an axe? Huh… interesting.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie had his weighted gloves on as he narrowed his eyes at the enemy as they started to come out of the library.</p><p> </p><p>Shadow of course was in the lead. Everyone of course knew that this was going to be a difficult battle, though he just wasn’t sure if he was ready to handle this. If he was even able to handle this in the first place. After all, he was the only human among them, and there was no way of knowing if this would even be enough. His hands started to shake and tremble as he held the gun, wanting to prepare himself for the attacks.</p><p> </p><p>A gloved hand reached out and held onto his wrist. Balthazar blinked his eyes as he looked over, and saw his demon staring at him. “Just stay near me alright? I’ll protect you Balthazar, I won’t let anything hurt you ever again.” Vinnie vowed, his eyes narrowed though had a faint glow to them to show that he was trying to keep his anger in check. It was strange, yet breath taking as he stared at his demon.</p><p> </p><p>He felt touched, and felt a little more courageous for that. Nodding his head, Balthazar looked up and narrowed his eyes. He knew that it was going to be a difficult time for all of them. Though at the same time he was thankful that his sister wasn’t there with them.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he looked over at Crystal as she saw that she was preparing to shoot out flames at their enemies. Though none of her flames were white, so it seemed that maybe she hadn’t learned to use her flames at all. Letting out a grunt, Balthazar looked back at Shadow, who just stood by the door of the library. Using hand gestures to send his army toward the group.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal and Blade shot forward as they started to hack at the Soulless army that Shadow had created. Balthazar and Vinnie of course, stayed where they were. The blonde shot at the Soulless army, though their bodies would merely just get back up as they kept walking forward. Vinnie of course, would punch at anyone that would dare get too close to the couple.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing his eyes, Balthazar kept shooting at them till his gun, like last time ran out of bullets. He hadn’t thought that this would happen again. He wanted to curse, wanted to scream though he wasn’t sure what he was to do. Looking up at the enemies once again, the young man knew that he had to do something. That he had to ensure the safety of his friends as well as himself, though would it be enough to do so?</p><p> </p><p>Tossing his gun aside, Balthazar knew that he shouldn’t have any doubt within him. That this was going to be the final battle for himself against Shadow. As it should result in either Shadow’s death, or Balthazar’s. There was no telling what would happen to his friends, to his lover but he would do whatever it took to ensure everyone’s safety.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man threw a punch at any Soulless that would dare come near him. He would throw punch after punch. Ensuring that they would be knocked over though most of them wouldn’t stay down. They would merely get back up, which made the blonde worried for their safety right now. “Vinnie, what are we going to do? They’re going to keep coming!” Balthazar said softly before throwing another punch.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know, but we have to keep going.” Vinnie calmly said as he himself threw another punch. It confused him how he was able to keep throwing punches, though even using his own wings as a shield to keep the two safe.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal and Blade, would use their weapons and use it against the Soulless. When they had been cut in half, they had at least stayed down. So, it made him wonder how they were able to stay down for something like being cut in half, but being shot did nothing. Unless, Shadow released his hold over them when in too rough of shape? There was no way of knowing what was going on with this, as he himself had no idea how it was that Shadow’s race worked.</p><p> </p><p>Looking around at their surroundings, Balthazar noticed that slowly, the numbers were getting smaller and smaller. Though he wasn’t sure if that would be enough.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man looked over at Vinnie and saw that his gloves were tearing. But he wasn’t sure how that was, they were lined with steel and yet… the fabric were starting to wear down, he could almost see the Incubus’ knuckles at this point and they were starting to be covered in blood. Eyes were wide as he looked at his lover, seeing the man punching at their enemies until his knuckles bled. He wanted this to stop, wanted this battle to stop but he was unsure as to how that would even come about.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing his eyes, he looked at the next target and punched one. Only to stare in shock as they grabbed a hold of his wrist. “What the?!” Balthazar shouted in shock before he was thrown across the battle field. The blonde cried out in shock and fear. Vinnie shouting his name, as did Crystal and Blade.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar landed near their enemy and groaned as he rolled on the ground before slowly getting onto his knees, though felt pain going through his legs, it must be road rash. He felt like his shoulder was dislocated, maybe a broken arm from the fall. If he had landed properly, he could have prevented that, though wasn’t able to prepare himself as he couldn’t help but groan as he held onto his left shoulder. Blast it all, that hurts.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man looked up, one eye shut as he felt blood already oozing from his forehead and trying to cover his left eye.</p><p> </p><p>Shadow smirked as he looked down at the blonde. It almost seemed as if he had planned for all of this. Behind him, all he could hear was Vinnie shouting his name and his grunts of pain. Turning his head for a moment, he saw that his demon was trying to get to him, throwing punch after punch, even going as far as throwing his gloves down onto the ground. The gloves, were now useless to him it seemed before he kept throwing punches and tried to reach the human.</p><p> </p><p>Moving his gaze over, he saw that Crystal and Blade were also trying to reach him though even their weapons weren’t being as useful it seemed. Balthazar knew, that he was on his own right now. Slowly, he turned his gaze back up to Shadow and narrowed his eyes. Or, well narrowed his eye. Using his free hand, he wiped at his forehead, trying to remove the blood that would still flowing down his forehead and over his eye.</p><p> </p><p>“Now that we are… alone.” Shadow said with a smirk on his face. Balthazar just glared as best as he could, he still had a trick up his sleeve. Unsure if it would even work on him, though he knew that he couldn’t allow himself to give into his fear. Gripping his shoulder, Balthazar tried to get up, only to wince. Maybe his leg was broken instead of the road rash, for pain shot up his ankle, to his knee.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the blonde looked down for a brief moment, trying to gather his courage in that moment. Even though he was afraid, he knew that he shouldn’t allow his fear to consume him again. “Why?” Balthazar asked.</p><p> </p><p>“Pardon?” asked Shadow, his confusion clear in his voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Why are you so obsessed with me? What did I do, in any life to give you an indication that you would have me? What made you even <em>want</em> me in the first place?!” Balthazar demanded.</p><p> </p><p>Shadow just stared in shock, before that shock turned into a small smile before he started to laugh. “That’s simple Balthazar!” He managed to get himself to say between laughs. “It’s your soul. You know what I am, I’m sure.” Balthazar just narrowed his eyes as he glared at the insane man before him. His soul even felt uneasy at this, he wasn’t sure if it was the remnant of his past lives acting up from being in front of Shadow. “It’s just so pure, so innocent… I knew that I had to have it.”</p><p> </p><p>What? It was because of his soul? That was why Shadow wanted him so badly, was because his ‘soul’ was pure and innocent? That just seemed really strange to him, making him want to run off, running back to his demon but he wouldn’t even be able to do that. Hissing in pain, Balthazar managed to lean himself back before his leg started to scream at him.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, Balthazar gave a weak snarl. “So, you wanted my soul all because of that? Killed hundreds, maybe thousands of people just because you wanted me?! Never accepting that I could never love you?!” The blonde managed to shout at the mad man. His fear was now taking a back seat. Narrowing his eyes, he added “I was in love with someone else in all my past lives and yet you kept trying! Trying to do all of that just because… just because I wouldn’t love you back?!”</p><p> </p><p>Shadow just raised an eyebrow at the blonde before him. As if thinking over the blonde’s words, making the young man think that maybe that the demon was thinking over everything that he had done in his life time. Yet, nothing came to mind for the human, unsure if Shadow could ever be redeemed at this point.</p><p> </p><p>Then another laugh ringed throughout the field, chilling Balthazar to the bone. “It didn’t matter if you couldn’t love me back.” Shadow admitted. What? “I would have you, even if I had to find a way to kill your precious fucking Incubus. He had been nothing but a thorn in my side for far too long. I knew that I had to have him and his family killed to keep him from being reborn. Since after all…” Shadow gave a cruel and twisted smile that shot fear through the blonde’s heart in that moment. It made him fear for his life, fear for his safety more than ever.</p><p> </p><p><em>”Balthazar! Just stay strong, I’m coming for you!”</em> shouted Vinnie from the distance, though the sound of battle was still going strong behind him.</p><p> </p><p>“You were always reborn into the Cavendish-line. It didn’t matter if it was by women, you were always brought back and your soul was always the same.” Shadow admitted as he started to make his way toward the blonde in that moment. Balthazar let out a startled cry as he started to back up, or attempted to do so.</p><p> </p><p>Moment he did, he found himself landing on his back as he was trying not to hold his shoulder. Breathing deeply, the blonde managed to get himself back up as best as he could trying to find a means of escape. Though with his leg most likely broken there was no way that he could escape unless Crystal unleashed her white flames but, with her lack of practice and training in such, there was no way of knowing if she’d be able to summon them on a whim.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, he managed to get back up onto his knees, using his uninjured hand to push himself onto his good knee. The pain was intense, as tears of pain filled his eyes before he looked up and stared in shock as Shadow was now standing before him. Gulping, the young man was trying to think what he could do. The demon was close yes, but not close enough for his own plan to fulfill. Though, at the same time he knew that should he die in this moment that he would never allow himself to go down without a fight.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t worry, soon your soul will live within me forever.” Shadow said with a smile as he knelt before the blonde. Balthazar once more tried to back up, only for the demon to grab a hold of him. “Once I have your soul, then we can live happily forever.”</p><p> </p><p>“I won’t be able to talk to you though.” Balthazar pointed out with a glare, trying to use the glare to hide his trembling form.</p><p> </p><p>Shadow just chuckled as he said “Of course I would. You will always be able to talk to me no matter what happens, you will still be mine either way.” He chuckled more as he leaned in closer and closer to Balthazar as he let out a dreamy sigh. “Though, it would have been nice to have children with you but sadly, I lack that ability more so since you are also a man.” He laughed a little more before grabbing a hold of the blonde, causing Balthazar to squeak out in fear.</p><p> </p><p>“No!” Balthazar cried out, shaking his head before saying “You use the essence of a soul, eventually I’ll disappear from you!” He was now just grasping at straws at this point, hoping and praying that it would be enough time till Vinnie, or even Crystal and Blade would be able to jump in.</p><p> </p><p>Shadow just blinked his eyes at him in confusion before shaking his head. “No, I only use the souls I wish to use. Once the soul’s essence is gone, the soul returns to heaven for a… recharge before being reborn. With you, I’ll never use it so I can hold onto your soul forever.” His trembling started to get worse in that moment, Shadow’s race was rather interesting for sure but to be stuck with him forever? To never be able to escape, to never be reborn? Everything would be lost to him.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, he felt Shadow’s hand upon his chest, right over his heart. The demon smiled before leaning in and pressed his lips onto the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Pain shot through him almost immediately. It had felt like Shadow was reaching into his chest itself, tugging at his heart, his lungs, his blood… everything. Tightly shutting his eyes, Balthazar knew that he had to try to find a means of escaping this, trying to think on what he could do that would give him a means of escape. Though he started to see that his vision was starting to blur in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>He was running out of time right now. Though it had felt like his soul itself, was trying to be stubborn and stay where it belonged though he couldn’t be sure if that was what was really happening. Looking over, he faintly saw Crystal rushing over to where Vinnie was, as the Nekoline and Fire Lycan had no more enemies to fight, leaving Vinnie most likely full of enemies still. Slowly, he turned his gaze onto Blade and saw that he was still trying to summon his shadows.</p><p> </p><p>Nothing.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe Blade was trying to use his shadows to save Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Looking back at Shadow, he saw that the demon before him was already tugging more, pulling himself back as Balthazar’s soul was starting to leave his body.</p><p> </p><p>He had one last idea on how he could do… one last idea that could save him or just doom him in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing shakily, the young man shakily reached with his good hand toward his boot and pulled out a knife. Thankfully, he always held onto the blessed knife to ensure his safety should he ever felt like the gun would be overkill. Tightly shutting his eyes, tears pouring down his cheeks before with what little strength he could feel, moved his arm quickly and jammed the knife into Shadow’s shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>Shadow cried out in pain, releasing his hold over Balthazar as he held onto his shoulder and the blade itself. The blonde just smirked weakly before he started to fall backward. A flapping sound was heard, causing the young man to wonder what it was though when he felt a pair of familiar strong arms around him, he couldn’t help but smile before he felt darkness take him in that moment.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Vinnie had managed to get through all of the enemies in that moment, and knew that he had to hurry and get to Balthazar before his soul was stolen. Crystal had managed to rush to him and help her adopted brother. The Incubus hadn’t thought that he could feel like this. Feeling so powerless when it comes to trying to keep the man he loved safe.</p><p> </p><p>Looking up, he blinked in shock as he saw the blonde pulling out a knife that he kept hidden in his boot. Now he was thankful that his boyfriend always kept a knife on him. Because the moment that Shadow was impaled, Vinnie rushed forward. Flapping his wings as best as he could and flew in. Wrapping his arms around Balthazar as he managed to fly them away from Shadow and toward Blade.</p><p> </p><p>Though he fell over and groaned a little as he used his wings to wrap around the two men in order to shield the blonde in his arms, as well as himself from the fall. Groaning, he managed to look down at his arms and saw that Balthazar was out cold. Fearing the worse, he pressed his ear against the young man’s chest hoping that he was still alive.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Thump… thump… thump…</em>
</p><p> </p><p><em>’Thank god, you’re still alive… I managed to sweep in on time.’</em> Thought Vinnie as he tightly shut his eyes. Tears threatening to spill over, though he looked down at the blonde as he gently shook him. “Balthazar, wake up come on.” He pleaded, hoping that maybe the man would wake up and hug him. Though he didn’t have that luck it seemed. Frowning, he tried shaking the man, though when he touched the young man’s shoulder, he felt the bone and knew that it was broken.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing his eyes, he knew that he had to do something in order to help his boyfriend. Leaning forward, he kissed Balthazar, hoping that if he shared some of his energy that it would help wake him up.</p><p> </p><p>“Vincent stop that!” hissed Blade as he made his way over to the two. Vinnie pulled himself back, seeing Balthazar’s eyes open for a split second before closing once again. He was about to do it again but his friend held his shoulder. “Don’t, he may not wake up like that. He’s still alive, but if you keep giving your energy to him you won’t have any for yourself in this fight!”</p><p> </p><p>The Incubus couldn’t help but stare at his boyfriend. If that was the case, then Blade had a point. But he still didn’t like it, if Balthazar wouldn’t wake up there was no telling what would happen during this fight. Someone would have to fight Shadow at this point, and now with the blonde out cold there was no way that they could leave him alone. Because then that would leave him vulnerable to attacks, should Shadow have more Soulless in his army.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t send him back to the trailer, my shadows aren’t strong enough.” Blade mumbled softly.</p><p> </p><p>“How are you so weak right now anyway!? You should have healed by now!” Vinnie hissed.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know! It’s never happened before.” Blade retorted with a glare before looking over at Shadow.</p><p> </p><p>The man was still hissing in pain as he held onto his shoulder, only to glare at Vinnie and Blade. He snarled a little only to smirk and throw his head back as he started to laugh like a mad man. The two demons felt like that Shadow had either just snapped or became unhinged. Maybe both, both sounded like a pretty good possibility right now. The Incubus though knew that he couldn’t allow someone near the man in his arms. Tightening his hold over the blonde, the curly haired man knew that this was a risk. Blade could maybe fight Shadow, but if anything he was at a greater risk due to the enemy having been near to stealing his soul before.</p><p> </p><p>Not sure if the next time he’d be successful since he didn’t have any blessed weapons or… whatever it was that Crystal did.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you really think blessed weapons is enough to kill me?!” shouted Shadow, his smile cruel and very twisted. His mind most likely having snapped in that moment. “The only thing that can kill me is so rare that a hunter or a demon could never get a hold of such a thing!” Vinnie narrowed his eyes as he held Balthazar close to his chest, hoping that this would comfort the man in his arms. “The only thing that can kill me is the blood of a Celestial.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Crystal took a few deep breaths as she slowly pushed herself up. She was feeling exhausted, something that she never feels during a fight, or at least not for a fight that wasn’t very long. Looking around, she saw that Vinnie had managed to fly in and grab a hold of Balthazar. Though she knew that the man had some broken bones, from what she could sense though.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, she managed to push herself back up onto her feet as she watched as her brother tried to share his energy with the blonde in his arms. Sure, it was reckless and it worked for a moment but it would take much more than that to get the blonde to wake up. Vinnie though was being stupid in trying to use his energy to wake up the human, when he needed his energy to try to fight this monster.</p><p> </p><p>The woman took another few deep breaths as she looked over and saw Blade talking Vinnie out of sharing his energy. At least the Nekoline was trying to keep the Incubus from sharing more of his energy and putting him at risk.</p><p> </p><p>A laugh hit her ears in that moment, making her turn her gaze onto Shadow as he stared at the two men. The demon laughed, and she felt like he was losing what was left of his sanity though, not completely. Frowning a little, the woman took a step forward, sword tightly in hand as she tried to keep herself standing. Though what he shouted out, forced her to freeze in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>Shouting how a blessed weapon couldn’t kill him, that what could kill him was so rare that even demons and hunters alike couldn’t easily get a hold over it. Was that why he hadn’t been killed, or at least why his race hadn’t been wiped out? The Fire Lycan felt her eyes narrow in that moment. Maybe that was why they couldn’t find many rare items or ingredients that would allow them to be able to kill him. Because it was so rare, that no one could get a hold of it. Maybe once every so often and not in high quantities. But, she knew that she had to do something.</p><p> </p><p>If only she could summon her white flames then she could have tried that on Shadow but wasn’t sure if it would even work in the first place. God, why did she feel like shit right now? God, she’s felt sick since getting up this morning, maybe it was worry about her friend since they had been getting closer and closer to learning what they could do and then of course all the things that they had been reading hadn’t helped matters either.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“The only thing that can kill me is the blood of a Celestial.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Blinking her eyes, Crystal looked up and stared at Shadow in shock. Wait, did she just hear that right? That made no sense to her until she recalled what had happened back at the manor. When she had grabbed a hold of Shadow, her hand was stained in her blood, when she had grabbed him he had screamed out in pain as if it was the worst thing that he had ever felt in his life. Even more painful than when Balthazar had just stabbed him. Looking at her sword, the woman felt like it would give her all the answers.</p><p> </p><p>The blood of a Celestial.</p><p> </p><p>She was the child of one, and had the blood within her. Diluted as it was thanks to her father but, it was still the blood of a Celestial. The woman couldn’t help but narrow her eyes as she looked between Shadow and her sword. Back and forth as she knew that this was going to hurt like hell but it would have to be enough.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing her eyes, the young woman took a deep breath before looking at her hand and bit her lower lip. This would have to be enough, her friends were in danger and she had the power to do <em>something</em> at the very least. Taking a deep breath, Crystal ran her sword across her hand, coating, soaking her blade in her own blood. It hurt, though she was thankful that the sword wouldn’t cause her any serious damage other than slow down her healing.</p><p> </p><p>Once she was done with her task, the sword was practically dripping from her blood. Looking up, she saw that Shadow was already starting to approach her friends. Narrowing her eyes once again, the young woman tightly held her sword in her hand before rushing forward. Her speed had slowed down it seemed, making her frown but knew that she was still faster compared to a human.</p><p> </p><p>Once she was close enough, Crystal jumped in the air, holding her sword back as she was preparing herself for a strike. One that should cut the fucker in half.</p><p> </p><p>Only for Shadow to quickly turn around and thrust his hand out and wrapped it around the Fire Lycan’s throat. Crystal stared with wide eyes, hadn’t been expecting that, but it wasn’t just that but her sword had flown out of her hand in that moment. The demon smirked as he looked up at Crystal only to frown a little as he stared at her. “Hm?” He tilted his head before leaning in closer only to laugh. “Oh my, another soul lies within you!” He laughed before reaching his free hand out and placed it on her belly. “Interesting…”</p><p> </p><p>Crystal’s eyes widened in that moment. What?! Letting out a gagging sound, struggling to break free she knew that she had to do something to get out of this. She couldn’t die here, couldn’t allow herself to die here! Trying to catch her breath, the woman tightly shut her eyes as she reached up with her blood coated hand and wrapped it around Shadow’s wrist.</p><p> </p><p>The man snarled and howled in pain before throwing Crystal through the air. Blade of course jumped in the air and quickly caught her. He looked down at the woman in his arms as he asked her what had happened. The Fire Lycan looked up at the Nekoline for a brief moment before shaking her head. She couldn’t tell him yet, she hadn’t even known and now wasn’t the time.</p><p> </p><p>Though, this was going to be a long, and irritating talk after this fight. Assuming that they even get out of this fight alive for that matter. Blade quickly made his way back to the couple on the ground before setting Crystal down. She couldn’t help but wrap her arms around her belly.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Vinnie looked between Blade and Crystal. Crystal looked exhausted over everything that had happened, though he couldn’t help but feel worried. With how Shadow held onto her, by her throat and when he just seemed to have stopped? He had no idea what had just happened but that was the least of his problems. He was thinking to why she would rush him like that in the first place. Then of course how she got Shadow to let go of her.</p><p> </p><p>Then he recalled what Shadow had claimed. Looking over at the woman, he saw that her hand was cut, it was simple and still very clean. Showing the Incubus that it was also intentional. <em>’The blood of a Celestial…’</em> Vinnie thought to himself. It was then that he knew what she was attempting to do. Looking back at her sword, it was sticking up from the ground from when it flew from her hand in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>She coated her sword in her blood… her Celestial blood!</p><p> </p><p>Looking over at the two demons, Blade trying to comfort Crystal in that moment though Vinnie knew that he would have a lot to ask out of the Nekoline. Narrowing his eyes for a brief moment, he looked down at the blonde and knew what he had to do. Taking a deep breath, he calmly said “Blade, do you have enough power on you for your shadow manipulation? Even a little bit?”</p><p> </p><p>“I do, why?”</p><p> </p><p>“I have a plan, it’s risky but it should work.”</p><p> </p><p>Blade and Crystal both looked at their friend in confusion. He couldn’t really blame them for that, since normally his plans didn’t go through properly. But he was sure that this would work this time. There was no way that this was going to be anything but successful this time around. Taking a deep breath, he whispered “I’ll need you to pull Crystal’s sword into the shadows, as well as me. I’ll have to use her sword.”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you nuts?!” Hissed Crystal as she glared at her brother.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ll burn-“</p><p> </p><p>“I know that, but it’s all we got. He could somehow sense Crystal but now he’s distracted from his pain. Crystal’s blood is the only thing that can kill him at this point!” Vinnie hissed softly before taking a deep breath before handing Balthazar to his friends. “Crystal, I’ll need you to heal his shoulder and leg. I’m pretty sure that they’re broken.” He pushed himself as best as he could before slowly moving away.</p><p> </p><p>Shadow was still screaming as he held onto his wrist. Hunched forward as he was trying to wipe away the blood that had smeared onto his flesh.</p><p> </p><p>He was only hurting himself it seemed. Vinnie knew that this was his chance, it was now or never because otherwise, it had seemed that Shadow relied on brains. Not strength, nor weapons as he hadn’t summoned any weapons or anything of the sort. Tightening his hands into fists, he knew that this was what had to be done to stop this madness for good.</p><p> </p><p>“Alright.” Blade whispered before he placed his palm on the ground. The shadows right away took in Crystal’s sword in that moment and the Incubus just hoped that it wouldn’t wear him out too much. Though the Incubus could already see sweat on the Nekoline’s forehead. “We’ll distract him as best as we can till you can give the final hit.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie nodded his head as he felt himself sinking into the ground. Taking a deep breath, he was trying to get himself to calm down, as he had never gone through the shadows by himself before. It was freaky, and frightening but his desire to keep Balthazar safe was the only thing that got him through it. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was now in the shadows, he looked around as he tried to find the sword.</p><p> </p><p>If he held onto it, it would cause him pain. He knew that, but knew that should he hold onto it too long that it could cause him some serious damage but in the long run… it would be worth it. Because he would have finally ended all of the bloodshed at long last. All of those deaths that Shadow caused wouldn’t have been in vain.</p><p> </p><p>Rushing out, he grabbed a hold of the sword and right away, felt pain shooting through his palms. Hissing, Vinnie knew that this was going to be irritating and painful. Breathing deeply, he looked upward and saw an opening. He was at his destination. Smirking, ignoring the smoke coming from his hands as his skin was being singed from the sword. Though that wasn’t the only thing he noticed, Crystal’s blood was still dripping from the blade and onto his fingers, and wrist. Wanting to cry out in pain, having hoped that the guard would have been enough to keep his hands getting covered in her blood.</p><p> </p><p>Seemed the blood of a Celestial could hurt anyone, but it was the main weakness for a Voleur d'âme. Taking a deep breath, flapped his wings hard as he burst through the shadows like a bullet and spun through the air. Wings covering him in that moment before spreading out and narrowed his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>There was Shadow, snarling and growling at Crystal and Blade. Crystal was still trying to heal the man in her arms, and Blade was standing before them trying to protect them. Also, most likely trying to make it seem like Vinnie had either taken off or was behind them. “He will be mine.” Shadow hissed before making his way closer and closer to them.</p><p> </p><p>Narrowing his eyes, anger bubbling through him in that moment as he thought back to all the deaths. Losing his lovers of the past, his parents, all the people who has had died because of this mad man. Eyes glowing brightly from his anger before snarling. He wouldn’t allow this man to get away, he wouldn’t allow him to get out of this alive. Tightening his hold over the hilt of the sword, ignoring the pain as it singed his flesh before he flew downward. Once he was close, he shouted “Die you son of a bitch! All the deaths that you’ve caused will finally be justified at long last!”</p><p> </p><p>Shadow turned around in that moment, only for his eyes to widen as Vinnie slashed the man from his left hip to his right shoulder. Shadow cried out in pain and shock before he fell onto the ground. “How?” Shadow whispered.</p><p> </p><p>“Celestial blood you mother fucker!” shouted Vinnie before he landed and narrowed his eyes. “You won’t get away anymore.” He whispered harshly before holding the sword above his head, and started to thrust the blade into Shadow’s body. The monster shouted and cried out in pain from the constant impalement. It seemed that he hadn’t expected them to have that in the first place after all.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie kept going, not caring at all about the pain.</p><p> </p><p>Not caring at all about the burning of his flesh.</p><p> </p><p>Not caring about how Shadow’s body slowly turned into ashes.</p><p> </p><p>Tears flowed freely down his cheeks as he thought about all the pain and suffering that he has had to ensure all this time.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, he felt arms wrapping them around his waist. Turning his head, he looked down and saw Crystal holding him. Trying to comfort him. Tears kept rolling down his cheeks before he dropped the sword. His hands were bleeding greatly, his hands burned and most likely would scar. Tightly shutting his eyes, Vinnie dropped to his knees as he cried.</p><p> </p><p>The Fire Lycan just held onto her adopted brother and ran her fingers through his hair in the hopes of comforting him.</p><p> </p><p>The pain and suffering he’s had endured for so many years… was finally over.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>there is still a few more chapters, don't worry! I may include a bonus chapter, maybe not sure. Later everyone, also what do you think happened to Balthazar after his soul was nearly stolen?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. Scars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The battle had caused more damage to the Incubus and the Hunter, but the way to get past that is with each other.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Play Song When Lyrics appear</p><p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cX_OJPq6Sw</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“He’s been asleep for a while now.” Said Zoey with a frown as she took a sip of her shake.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal and Blade let out soft sighs as they leaned back in their seats. The battle with Shadow had taken place a few months ago. Everyone had been worried during that time, unsure as to what would happen for the group now that their most hated enemy was gone. But there was no telling what would happen now that they could finally live in peace.</p><p> </p><p>“He had been through an ordeal so it makes sense that he would be resting still.” Crystal pointed out with a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“But Blade woke up after a few days.” Zoey pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s a demon though, and it seems that he was taking energy from me the whole time I was with him.” Crystal explained with a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“But Vinnie-“</p><p> </p><p>“Vincent is using his energy to keep Balthazar alive. Since he is still unconscious he needs a means to sustain his body so because of that, Vincent is doing all he can to keep him alive.” Blade said with a sigh as he leaned against the seat, covering his hand over his eyes. He let out another sigh before lowering his hand for a moment before staring at Crystal with a small glare. Not a hateful glare, just an angry one. “And you, you were putting so much at risk-“</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t know! I told you that many times already! How was I supposed to know?!” Crystal shouted at Blade, eyes sparking in flames from her anger. During the battle, they had discovered because of Shadow that Crystal was expecting. Though due to it being still early, maybe a month in, neither of them had noticed. But it should have been obvious, mostly due to a few signs that they had failed to notice.</p><p> </p><p>Such as Blade’s lack of energy.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal getting sick easier… well, more so than usual.</p><p> </p><p>The way Shadow was able to grab her while she was behind him, because he had sensed the second soul and therefore could sense her easier unlike Vinnie as he was only a single soul and couldn’t sense him as easily.</p><p> </p><p>Honestly, it was something that had shocked everyone when they discovered what it really was. But knew that it was going to be harder for them all to perform on stage. Crystal didn’t want to be stared at during shows later on. So they would have to talk to Brick and saw that she needed time away from stage and he’d have to suck it up.</p><p> </p><p>“But, now there won’t be any other risks right? No one else is going to try to attack my brother or family anymore?” asked Zoey with worry on her face.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal and Blade both blinked before looking at each other for a brief moment before looking back at Zoey. “I think that is the case yeah. No one else will attack Balthazar anymore, since Shadow was the one that was making all of those plans. Should have known he was insane though.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why?” asked Zoey as she stared at Blade.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, considering that he kept doing the same thing over and over again in the hopes of getting your brother’s soul? Hoping that it would work the next time it. The only time he changed any plans was when he decided to kill Vincent as well as his parents so he’d have a better shot with your brother in this life.” Blade explained with a soft sigh before he sipped at his coffee.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait, he really kept trying the same plan over and over again?” Zoey asked with a frown.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, he said “From what I heard from the past lives? Yeah, he met them, tried to convince them to leave Vincent, they’d say no and then he’d plan for them to die. Over and over, he had tried to get Balthazar in this life but that also failed.” Blade shrugged his shoulders when he was done before looking at the two women in the room with him. Crystal couldn’t help but stare at the Nekoline after he was done explaining. It did make sense, Shadow was a little unstable and a bit unhinged near the end though.</p><p> </p><p>The guy even admitted to what his weakness was for crying out loud.</p><p> </p><p>Though it made her wonder about Vinnie. After all, he was so angry, so upset that he kept impaling Shadow even after the man had already been turned to ashes. But, she figured that Vinnie was doing that because he was just letting out all of his pain in that moment. Not that she could really blame him in that moment though she did have to comfort him in some way just so he could stop hacking at someone that was already dead.</p><p> </p><p>Then, there was Vinnie’s hands.</p><p> </p><p>His hands were burned from both the sword as well as her own blood. Who knew that the blood of a Celestial could also burn demons, not just kill them but could also burn their flesh from the moment they came in contact with a demon’s skin. It just made her worried about any time she’d cut herself now should she have anyone to tend to her own injuries. Though, it made her wonder how her blood never bothered Blade.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong puppy?” asked Blade.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m just stuck on something. How was it that my blood harmed not just Shadow but Vinnie. Yet when you treated my injuries before you were fine.” Crystal said with a frown on her face as she let out a soft sigh.</p><p> </p><p>“My guess is that your blood is like your white flames. Because you were angry and wanted to kill, your blood reflected that.” Blade calmly said, causing Crystal and Zoey to look at him in confusion. “Think about it, your white flames seem to either harm or heal depending on how you see them. If you care, the flames heal. If you don’t, then they hurt people.” He shrugged his shoulders before looking up at the ceiling while in his thoughts. “Your blood, you were most likely angry and that blood coated your sword with it. So, because of that you could easily kill Shadow if you had hit him. As well, as burning Vincent since you didn’t put on another coat of your own blood so therefore, it could burn any of us.”</p><p> </p><p>Which she hadn’t due to him being able to catch her, and her sword flying out of her hand. Thus having her learn of her expecting and then of course Vinnie taking matters into his own hands to stop the cycle of deaths and suffering. Crystal let out a soft sigh as she looked over at Blade as she said “I just hope that everything works out for him this time.” Blade nodded his head in agreement.</p><p> </p><p>Yawning, the woman rubbed at her face as she mumbled “I’m tired, I’m gonna have a nap.” Crystal pushed herself up and started to walk out of the room and went to the bed to have a nap. It was darker in there.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s amazing that she hadn’t lose control over her temper. She gets angry easy right?” Zoey asked.</p><p> </p><p>“She does but Crystal actually is having an easy time with it actually.” Blade said with a smile before getting up and stretching his arms above his head. “I’m gonna join her. You can watch some TV if you want.” He calmly said to Zoey before walking off to the bedroom to snuggle with his puppy.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Balthazar groaned a little as he slowly started to open his eyes. The room was kind of dark, he felt warm and very comfortable. Yet at the same time he felt very sore. It had felt as if he had gone through training for over a year with no break between to give his muscles time to adjust. It was a feeling he despised yet, at the same time he felt… safe.</p><p> </p><p>Blinking his eyes a couple times, the young man wasn’t sure what had happened. It had felt as if he had been in some kind of dream as well now that he thought about it. A dream that he couldn’t recall, nor could he think of what could have him feeling so good in the first place. It made him confused, but at the same time really curious at the same time. So strange.</p><p> </p><p>Looking around his room as best as he could, the young man wondered where he was. His memories were nothing but a blur at the moment. Clouded in a fog that was preventing him from wanting to remember what it was that had happened.</p><p> </p><p>Groaning, he tried to get up, tried to move but he felt something tightening around him in that moment. He felt like he should have panicked but he hadn’t… Frowning, he looked down and could faintly make out that something was draped over his chest. It was kind of big but not concerning to him at least. Tilting his head as best as he could, he was confused by the… whatever it was. Shaking his head, the young man looked over to the side as he tried to see in the darkness, trying to get his eyes to adjust.</p><p> </p><p>It took a while for his vision to adjust but what he saw made his heart thud quickly in his chest.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie was sound asleep, glasses long gone from his face. His hair was askew as if he hadn’t bothered to get himself cleaned up for a while. His skin looked a little pale, and it made him wonder what was going on, there was even dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept in just as long. He looked so drained and it broke his heart. Balthazar felt terrible, unsure why but a part of him felt like it had to do with him in some way.</p><p> </p><p>The way Vinnie’s brows would draw together, as if he was having the worse nightmare in the world. A whine would escape him and it made him want to reach out and… well he wasn’t sure what to do.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man carefully made reached over. Noticing how much his arm was trembling as he reached for his demon before gently running his fingers through the thick curls. Only to frown when he felt the knots in his demon’s curls. <em>’Hasn’t he been looking after himself?’</em> thought the blonde before looking down at Vinnie once again. The demon nuzzled at Balthazar’s shoulder as he mumbled things under his breath though the man couldn’t understand what it was that he was saying.</p><p> </p><p>Eyes softening at the snuggling man, he whispered “What did you go through to have you like this?” He wasn’t sure what it was that Vinnie was dreaming about, or what he had been through before allowing himself to sleep.</p><p> </p><p>Even the tingling was far stronger than before and it made the blonde just love his demon all the more. It made him think that maybe this strength of the tingling was due to whatever it was that Vinnie was dreaming about or what he had gone through before falling asleep. He couldn’t really be sure, but he wanted to help his demon more than anything else though was unsure as to what he could do in this state.</p><p> </p><p>Groaning a little, Balthazar used his other hand to rub at his face. It felt like his head wanted to split in two the longer he was thinking on the possibilities that has Vinnie in this kind of shape. Taking another look at his demon, the blonde noticed something else that he hadn’t noticed due to the darkness in the room.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Was he crying in his sleep?’</em> Balthazar thought to himself before frowning all the more.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, he reached forward once again and gently wiped away at the tears. Noticing that some were fresh, but there was still the feeling of dried tears staining his skin. Balthazar felt like something had stabbed his heart in that moment. He couldn’t help but feel guilt washing over him in that moment before he let out a groan as he tried to shift his position so he could wrap his arms around the demon who held onto him.</p><p> </p><p>Though it seemed that his shuffling had caused the Incubus to moan a little. Blinking his eyes a couple times, Balthazar just stared at his demon as Vinnie reached up with his other hand and rubbed at his face. “Mmm…” The curly haired man hummed softly before opening his eyes a little. His eyes filled with sleep and clouded it seemed as he just seemed to be staring at the blonde for a moment. “Morning Balthazar.” He whispered before closing his eyes once again.</p><p> </p><p>Only for his eyes to snap open as he pushed himself up a bit while staring down at the blonde with wide eyes. “Balthazar, you’re awake!” He said with joy, though his voice cracked a little, as if he was trying to keep himself from crying. Then the Incubus hugged him, burying his face against the blonde’s neck as he whispered “I was so afraid that you wouldn’t wake up… That I had lost you after all! After what Shadow did to you, what he had tried to do! I was just so scared that I would have lost you in the end and would have to wait for you to return-“</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie? What are you talking about?” asked Balthazar in confusion.</p><p> </p><p>The Incubus couldn’t help but pull back as he stared at Balthazar in confusion. It seemed that it had baffled the demon that he couldn’t recall what had happened or even how the blonde had gotten to bed. That was something that baffled the young man though he just couldn’t really be sure as to what had happened.</p><p> </p><p>“What do you remember Balthazar? What is the last thing you recall before passing out?” asked Vinnie with a frown on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar had to frown a little at that one. He wasn’t really sure what he could recall. His memories were in a fog still, so that made it a little more difficult for him to think through. The fog was really thick and it made him wonder if it was due to the pounding of his head or just because he had just woken up from… whatever it was that he was waking up from. Wait…</p><p> </p><p>“We were going to the library to try to find a weakness for Shadow. So we could finally put an end to him attacking us and any possible incarnations so you could finally be happy with me longer than you have.” Balthazar whispered softly, he rubbed at his forehead as he groaned a little. God, everything was painful right now and it made him want to whine a little. “We didn’t find anything…”</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, I’ll fill in the blank spots then.” Vinnie offered.</p><p> </p><p>“Please.”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie nodded as he sat on the side of the bed that he had occupied moments before. Balthazar just decided to stay how he was as he stared at his demon. Though, he couldn’t help but notice the haunted look in his bi coloured eyes in that moment. The blonde wanted to reach out and comfort him in some way but was unsure as to how he was to do that. It had felt as if everything would just come back and bite him in some way.</p><p> </p><p>Looking down at the demon’s hand that had clutched at the blanket, Balthazar slowly, and shakily reached forward and grabbed a hold of Vinnie’s hand.</p><p> </p><p>That moment, Vinnie looked down and frowned a little before a soft smile graced his lips as he turned his hand palm upward as he laced his fingers with Balthazar’s. It seemed that was the comfort that his demon needed to go on with his tale.</p><p> </p><p>He explained how Shadow had managed to get into the library. That he had an army of Soulless hunters with him and that was how he was able to get in without the alarms blaring. How they had to get Blade to use his control over shadows to try to escape but only able to get out of the building as he had been completely drained just getting the group there.</p><p> </p><p>How they had all fought so hard to stop the Soulless while Shadow himself, just stood outside of the library and just seemed to have been watching. That Balthazar had kept using his gun until he ran out of bullets, and had to resort to hand to hand combat. Which, Vinnie had mentioned he was thankful for when it came to the training.</p><p> </p><p>“Why couldn’t you just fly us away?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“I had used my wings as a shield before Blade could get us out of there. The arrows weren’t blessed but I couldn’t fly us out of there, even if I was at full strength with my wings, I wouldn’t have been able to do so. Plus, I couldn’t carry three people even if I wanted to. That’s just too much weight even for a high ranking demon-“</p><p> </p><p>“You mean a prince.”</p><p> </p><p>“Let it go, I’m not a prince anymore.” Vinnie pointed out before going back to his tale.</p><p> </p><p>After a while during the battle, a Soulless had managed to get a hold of Balthazar and threw him toward Shadow. It seemed that it had been something that had been planned. It was then that Balthazar’s eyes widened. “He was trying to steal my soul.” He whispered softly.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie frowned a little at him before slowly nodding his head. “I don’t know what was going on in your head Balthazar but I knew that I had to rush to you as quickly as I could get by Shadow’s army.” He let out a deep sigh before running a hand through his thick curls. “I don’t know what the hell he was talking about, but I guess you had enough of your own strength to grab your knife and stab him.”</p><p> </p><p>Right, he remembered. Shadow was going on and on about the purity of his soul and how much he wanted it. That he would to ensure that he would keep a hold of Balthazar’s soul for all of eternity just to ensure that there was no chance of another reincarnation rejecting him or something along those lines. It didn’t take a mind reader to be aware of that one.</p><p> </p><p>Biting his lip a little, Balthazar took in a deep and shuddering breath as he looked up at his demon before frowning a little. “You came in right? You flew in and saved me?” asked the blonde.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie nodded his head. “Once I could get out of there, I flew and grabbed you. Though I couldn’t handle the weight since my wings were a little damaged. Don’t worry they healed, I’m good as new.” He gave a small smile before letting out a deep breath. “I tried to use my energy to wake you up after using my wings to shield you from the fall. But Blade stopped me, telling me that using my energy then would have been pointless because I needed to try to fight to ensure we all got out alive.”</p><p> </p><p>Blade had a point, if Vinnie used up all of his energy on Balthazar at that point, there was no telling what could happen. It would have most likely resulted in their deaths if that was the case. “After that, Shadow actually revealed what he was weak against. Saying that a blessed item couldn’t come close to killing him, only the blood of a Celestial could.”</p><p> </p><p>What?</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Balthazar said with wide eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie nodded his head and chuckled a little. “Turns out we had his weakness all along. Crystal has the blood of a Celestial. Who would have thought that the whole time we had the weakness with us the whole time.” He gave a sad smile, only to lower his gaze. “If I had known… I could have killed that fucker long ago.”</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie, it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t even know Shadow was behind all of this in the first place.” Balthazar whispered, squeezing his hand in the hopes of comforting him in some way. Hoping and praying that he could send comfort to his demon. “What happened afterwards? Crystal kill him?”</p><p> </p><p>“She tried. Coated her sword in her blood and everything too but Shadow grabbed a hold of her by her neck. It seemed that he could sense her because she was pregnant.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?!”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, turns out she was a month along and Shadow sensed the baby’s soul that was how he was able to catch her. Though she was able to get him to let go because her blood still coated her hand ya know? So he threw her and Blade caught her.” Taking a deep breath, Vinnie looked out toward the window, where the blinds were closed for the time being. It seemed that he was trying to think on what he was to say next, something that would help with his tale, or at least to help him through the rest of the story.</p><p> </p><p>“I saw Crystal’s sword and had an idea hit me. I would have Crystal heal your shoulder and leg since they broke from when you landed near Shadow.” Oh right… he remembered that, he was sure that he had indeed broken something or at the very least, dislocated his shoulder from the fall. Maybe that was why he was still so sore, the healing didn’t fully take maybe. “I had Blade get both the sword as well as myself into the shadows so I could grab the sword-“</p><p> </p><p>“But your hands.” Balthazar frowned, recalling what the sword does to demons, more so ones that aren’t Crystal.</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, Vinnie took a deep breath. The blonde knew that his demon was having a bit of trouble with his tale. It was painful just watching him go through the story, yet Balthazar knew that he had to hear this, that he had to know what had happened after he had blacked out. There was still so much that he didn’t know about. “My hands state, it meant nothing but your future safety to me.” Vinnie slowly turned his gaze as he stared at the human next to him. “You should know… demons will go to certain lengths to protect the ones they love.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar felt his heart beating quickly in his chest in that moment. That was something that he hadn’t expected to hear but he knew… just <em>knew</em> that it was nothing but the truth coming from Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“I shot out of the shadows, and attacked Shadow. The single strike had managed to kill him, but I didn’t stop.” Vinnie whispered softly before closing his eyes from the memory. “The only thing that went through my head… was all the pain and suffering he had caused. All of the pointless deaths that he had caused. Everything that he had done, I knew that I couldn’t allow him to get away with so easily. I just… kept going. Even after his body had turned into ashes. I just kept going, till Crystal grabbed me and tried to comfort me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Vinnie…”</p><p> </p><p>“Afterwards, we were able to get back to the trailer. It took all day with us running. I carried you on my back while you were asleep and had hoped that maybe you would have woken up in a few days like Blade did but… you didn’t.”</p><p> </p><p>Wait… how long was he? “Vinnie, how long was I asleep for?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“A few months.”</p><p> </p><p>Eyes widening, Balthazar pushed himself to sit up, ignoring his body’s protests as he stared at the demon next him. Narrowing his eyes as he demanded “How could I have been asleep for that long? I should be dead right now!”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve been spending that time giving you my energy to keep your body alive. To keep your body sustained as if you had been eating in the hopes of you waking up.” Vinnie whispered softly, lowering his head as he let out a deep shuddering breath before whispering “I didn’t give up hope. I knew you’d wake up, but wasn’t sure how long it’d take for you to wake up. Didn’t matter what happened how you changed from the shock but I kept giving you my energy.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar could only stare in shock as he heard what Vinnie had said. The whole time, had used his energy to keep the man alive and that would also explain the state that Vinnie was in. The exhaustion, the dark circles, the way his skin had looked so pale compared to how it usually was. The tears, most likely due to his worry over the sleeping blonde. Wait…</p><p> </p><p>“Changes?” Balthazar questioned.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie looked over and frowned a little. It seemed that he hadn’t thought about his choice of words before saying them. He looked away for a brief moment before closing his eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Wait here…” He pushed himself up from the bed, releasing his hold on the blonde on the bed before making his way to the light switch. Once the light shined through, Balthazar had to use his hands to try to block out the light from blinding him.</p><p> </p><p>“So bright.” Whined Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Give it a moment.” Vinnie calmly said before making his way over to Balthazar and picked up a small hand held mirror. “Well, you know how Blade’s hair kinda changed when his soul was nearly stolen?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes?”</p><p> </p><p>“Well…” Vinnie held up the mirror to Balthazar. To make sure that he could see everything that he needed the man to see.</p><p> </p><p>What Balthazar saw made his eyes widen in shock. Looking back at him was indeed his own face, but his honey blonde hair had turned a wolfish grey. He couldn’t help but run his hand through his hair, wanting to see if it was real, if he was so dreaming… but it wasn’t a dream. “How-“</p><p> </p><p>“I think because of the shock your body went through during the whole process and with you being human it was just too much for your body. So your hair turned grey, while for Blade since he’s a demon only bits of his hair went white.” Vinnie speculated before letting out a soft sigh as he set the mirror down. Balthazar though couldn’t help but blink his eyes as he saw the state of his demon’s hands. Without thinking, he grabbed a hold of the curly haired man’s hand as he stared in shock.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie’s hands were covered in scars.</p><p> </p><p>“Your hands.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, right that was from holding Crystal’s sword. Her blood also can burn demons it seems though I don’t really understand how but meh. Maybe it’s like her white flames or something. I’ll have to ask later. But for now, this is the result of what I did to ensure that Shadow wouldn’t come back to hurt you or anyone ever again.” Vinnie explained with a small smile on his face.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but stare at the demon’s hands. The scars, looked angry and had even looked like lines of something just rolling down on the back of his hands while his palms looked like he was holding onto something scolding hot which, in a way he had.</p><p> </p><p>Guilt swam through the now grey haired man’s stomach before he closed his eyes. This was all his fault, it was his fault that Vinnie’s hands were burned and most likely had permanent damage to his hands. What if he couldn’t play anymore, what if he could never play another song on a guitar or anything for that matter? His career would be over and it was all Balthazar’s fault-</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not mad Balthazar. I did it to keep you safe, nothing else mattered to me.” Vinnie gave a small smile before he made himself a little more comfortable on the bed with the grey haired man.</p><p> </p><p>“But… it’s all my fault.” Whispered Balthazar before looking up at him. “How can you still love me, even after going through all of that?! I have most likely ended your career as a musician!” Vinnie just gave him a bland stare, just allowing the man before him to keep going through the emotions that were swirling around in his head. “How can you keep loving me? I’m just not worth it Vinnie! I have caused nothing but harm and destruction to you in some manner or another!”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie just kept listening.</p><p> </p><p>“Shadow had done so much harm and for what?! Just so he could have me! He killed your parents! Killed past lives of mine just so he could have me and he didn’t care about all the lives that he had ruined! I am not worthy of you at all!” Balthazar shouted, his voice going a little hoarse from lack of use.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie took a deep breath before pushing himself up from the bed and walked out of the room. Balthazar thought that maybe, this was the demon’s way of saying that they were done. That there was no point in going on with their relationship after everything that had happened over the months that they had known each other. Over what they had done just to be happy and enjoy each other’s company and so much more but… now he knew that it was over. That the demon was going to leave him and nothing else should matter.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, it didn’t make the pain hurt any less.</p><p> </p><p>Letting out a soft sigh, he curled up on the bed, tears rolling down his cheeks as he figured that this was indeed over.</p><p> </p><p>Yet, when he looked up he saw that Vinnie had walked back into the bedroom, carrying a guitar in his hands. Huh? Vinnie even had a chair with him before taking a seat and started to tune the instrument that made the grey haired man confused over everything that was happening right now. What was the demon planning?</p><p> </p><p>The demon took a deep breath before he started to strum at the strings before he closed his eyes as the lyrics just started to pour out of him in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I love you too much<br/></em>
  <em>To live without you loving me back<br/></em>
  <em>I love you too much<br/></em>
  <em>Heaven's my witness and this is a fact</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar felt his face flush as he listened to Vinnie’s voice. The man had a beautiful voice, when he wasn’t performing, it was as if he was seeing a completely different side to the demon. Even though he had heard the man perform by himself perhaps once before, at the piano but this… it was so much more different. It had more heart in it, more of his emotions that he had flowing through his heart like a river.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I know I belong</em>
  <br/>
  <em>When I sing this song</em>
  <br/>
  <em>There's love above love and it's ours</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Cause I love you too much</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Opening his eyes a crack, Vinnie had a soft smile on his lips. The smile was so pure, so loving as he kept his gaze on his fingers. Fingers that just seemed to glide over the strings, as if his scars hadn’t hindered him in the least. But how? Balthazar was sure that the way the scars looked, that they would have hindered him greatly and yet… it was as if nothing was wrong with his hands at all other than the scars.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I live for your touch</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I whisper your name night after night</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I love you too much</em>
  <br/>
  <em>There's only one feeling and I know its right</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie then lifted his head as he looked up at Balthazar with a soft smile on his face. Eyes softening as he gazed upon the grey haired man. It was enough to send his heart beating as if he was in some kind of thunder storm, a storm that was reflecting the love that he had for this man, as well as his demon loving him it seemed. He just couldn’t help but stare at the demon before him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I know I belong</em>
  <br/>
  <em>When I sing this song</em>
  <br/>
  <em>There's love above love and it's ours</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Cause I love you too much</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie chuckled a little as he just kept his gaze upon the man on the bed. His bi coloured eyes were beautiful as always, shining with love, a love that showed that it was never ending. A love that had gone through so much pain, but would never stop that feeling in his heart. Eyes truly were the windows to the soul, and he had never seen a more beautiful soul before in his entire life.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Heaven knows your name, I've been praying</em>
  <br/>
  <em>To have you come here by my side</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Without you a part of me is missing</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Just to make you my whole I will fight</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I know I belong</em>
  <br/>
  <em>When I sing this song</em>
  <br/>
  <em>There's love above love and it's ours</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Cause I love you too much</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Pushing himself up onto his feet, Vinnie slowly started to make his way toward the once blonde haired man. Balthazar blushed darkly as he saw the demon walking toward him. Honestly, the young man had thought that the curly haired man would have just walked away. To show that loving the taller man wasn’t worth it. That he wasn’t worthy of the demon’s love anymore because he just wasn’t to worth the risks that they had all been through just to be together. But this… this was something that made him want to blush darker than he had ever thought to be possible.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I love... you too much</em>
  <br/>
  <em>I love you too much</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Heaven's my witness and this is a fact</em>
  <br/>
  <em>You live in my soul</em>
  <br/>
  <em>Your heart is my goal</em>
  <br/>
  <em>There's love above love and its mine cause I love you</em>
  <br/>
  <em>There's love above love and it's yours cause I love you</em>
  <br/>
  <em>There's love above love and it's ours if you love me as much</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Once he reached the bed, Vinnie took a seat on the edge of the bed as he gazed upon Balthazar. His smile was still as radiant as ever. Not once did his smile waver or disappear from him and it made the grey haired man’s heart race all the quicker. Thinking that he was going to have a heart attack soon.</p><p> </p><p>Then he noticed that Vinnie was leaning closer and closer to the man. His eyes slowly drooping lower and lower the closer the demon got to the young man on the bed. Just as the song ended, the curly haired man pressed his lips upon the man. Balthazar of course, couldn’t help but kiss back. Feeling as if his whole world had exploded in a new shade of colour, something that was so beautiful. Something that he didn’t think to be possible but he felt the love in his heart had grown ever stronger.</p><p> </p><p>Once the couple pulled back Balthazar whispered “Why Vinnie? Why do you keep… doing this? Getting me to love you all the more when I’m just not worth the effort?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re Balthazar Cavendish, you are worth everything. You are worth this and so much more and you deserve to be loved and to love whoever you want. I love you and nothing will ever change that.” Vinnie whispered with a small smile before kissing him again.</p><p> </p><p>He couldn’t help but smile a little as he returned the kiss. Yes, everything was going to be alright, he knew that it would be okay now though he just hoped that everything would be oaky now. That there would be no more problems hitting the couple ever again. He just hoped that there would be no more trouble anymore.</p><p> </p><p>Soon, the door opened causing the couple to look up and frown. Standing in the doorway of the bedroom was Crystal and Blade. Both demons blinked their eyes in confusion before Blade grinned. “Hey, you’re awake! Love the hair by the way, grey is a good look for you.”</p><p> </p><p>Crystal slapped her hand onto his chest. “Blade, shut up.” She then crossed her arms before smiling. “But it is good to see you awake though, Vinnie had spent up a lot of his own energy to keep you alive. I’ll give you some energy drinks if you want to ensure you are back up to a hundred percent to help Vinnie with his own feedings.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar blinked his eyes a couple times before lowering his gaze onto the Fire Lycan’s larger belly. “Are you sure that is wise with you being pregnant?”</p><p> </p><p>“Are you saying that because I’m pregnant that I can’t do anything?!”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh no, Vinnie save me!”</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie and Blade laughed while trying to keep the human safe from the very angry Fire Lycan.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>next chapter is the final chapter, I hope you all liked this. Now, I figured that music is something that is powerful. A great way to express yourself when your words can't. So, I looked up and remembered the song from Book of Life, so I went for it. Hope you enjoyed it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Leaving Behind a Dark Past, for a Bright Future</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Balthazar and Vinnie return to the Cavendish Family home after a long time, going over everything that had happened since he woke up, to now. As he is finally able to let go of his past after so long of it hanging over his head.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Walking up onto the hill, Balthazar let out a soft sigh. It had been a long time since he had returned to his old home. It was the same home that he and his sister grew up in, as well as the same home that his parents had lost their very souls in. It was something that he hadn’t wanted to encounter again so, he had left the house alone for a very long time, as had his sister.</p><p> </p><p>After getting their parents affairs in order, Balthazar and Zoey had noticed in the will that the house was to be given to a ‘Cavendish’ only. Only Balthazar had the Cavendish name, well Zoey as well should she keep her surname when she decides to marry.</p><p> </p><p>It was a tough time for the two of them, so Balthazar had decided to give Zoey his apartment as he didn’t think he’d be going back to that place again. As, it wasn’t big enough for both himself and Vinnie plus, he wanted to wipe out the memories he had in that place. The sad memories, the crying during the lonely nights during Valentine’s Day, or Christmas. So many holidays that he had spent alone on, would never be alone again. So, he decided to just give his apartment to Zoey, and just take out all of his things.</p><p> </p><p>Otherwise, a few days after Balthazar had woken up from his ‘coma’ he had gotten Blade to send both Vinnie, and himself to his boss’s office in the hopes of explaining what had happened. To ensure that what happened would be listed in the file that there was no actual threat on Vinnie. As well as to alert him of his parents demise at the hands of a Voleur d'âme.</p><p> </p><p>His boss, of course didn’t seem to believe him at first. Claiming that no one had seen a Voleur d'âme for hundreds of years as they were so rare. And of course, claiming that there was no way that they would just attack someone as such unless they had a ‘worthy’ soul which he was sure that Balthazar’s parents did not.</p><p> </p><p>He still recalled that day all those years ago.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>”Sir, with all due respect it was indeed a Voleur d'âme that had attacked my family home. Zoey can even attest to such a claim.” Balthazar said, after having Vinnie close the door. There was no way that he was going to let his boss get away with ignoring facts here. After all, why else would his own hair have turned grey at this point!</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Look Balthazar, just because you ‘claim’ it to be fact doesn’t mean it is. By the way, you may as well remove that grey dye from your hair.” His boss said with a roll of his eyes.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Narrowing his eyes, Balthazar took a deep breath before looking over at Vinnie. He couldn’t help but stare at his demon, wondering what it was that they should do to convince his boss that everything had happened, was true. Turning his gaze back to his boss, he calmly said “Sir, I can prove a lot of things that had happened. Look at me!” He then rolled up his sleeves and revealed the many scars that lined his body. “How do you explain this?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>His boss looks at the faint scars that lined the grey haired man’s arms only to raise an eyebrow. “You just had those created to prove some kind of point that cannot be proven as fact.” Balthazar narrowed his eyes, feeling like he was about to reach over and slap his boss but had to restrain himself from doing so. </em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Then what about the grey hair?! I didn’t have that before!”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Hair dye, like I had mentioned before.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Balthazar groaned and covered his face. Almost wanting to dig his finger nails into his skin at this point but had to restrain himself. Taking a deep breath, he looked over at Vinnie as he said “Dakota, reveal yourself here.” The Incubus blinked his eyes a couple times before sighing softly. Double checking the door and then let out his wings.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>His boss nearly screamed out in shock.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“See sir?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“All I see is that you brought in an Incubus to attack-“</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Sir please let me explain fully!” His boss narrowed his eyes a little before leaning back in his seat before taking a deep breath. Folded his hands on his desk before making a gesture for the man to continue with what it was that he was going to see. Which, Balthazar knew that he would have to be quick about such a thing or else there was no way of knowing if his boss would end up believing him afterwards or he wouldn’t even get through the entire story before his boss kicked him out.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>So, Balthazar started to explain everything that had happened.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>From the moment that he started to protect Vinnie, to Shadow flirting with him in a few meetings that the man had tried to do. How Balthazar discovered what Vinnie was and that he was actually the paranormal creature that he was actually looking for but his friends were actually looking out for any victims to make sure that nothing happened to them during the accidental feeding.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>How Vinnie was actually around five to six hundred years old and had met the past lives of Balthazar and been in love with him many, many times and it would end up with the man in question getting killed each time, about a year or so after meeting Vinnie. Then of course how they had ended up learning that his ancestors had made the arrangements in the hopes of ‘saving’ Balthazar’s soul from Vinnie’s influence. Then of course how they had learned that Shadow, the Voleur d'âme, was actually obsessed with the grey haired man to the point that he tried to convince his past lives to be with him instead of the Incubus.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>Then each time he was rejected, he had his past lives killed and this time had his parents used to try to get to Balthazar this time around. But, this time Balthazar was prepared, and had nearly had his soul stolen but had used his knife and was saved thanks to his friends. And that the only way to kill Shadow was with the blood of a Celestial which, they happened to have had on hand.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“You had a Celestial with you?” asked his boss with shock.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“We had a child of a Celestial, but we won’t reveal who it was.” Balthazar said with a narrow of his eyes.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“Why?”</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“Because it is for their safety. Plus, it isn’t any of your business on who they are.” The young man said with a narrow of his eyes before taking a deep breath, Balthazar added “Now sir, due to everything that had happened, me becoming friends with demons, as well as loving one I refuse to hunt another demon unless they are an actual risk to humans.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Oh?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes, because they are like us. Just trying to have a life, just trying to enjoy their lives here in our realm. Unless they are causing harm they shouldn’t be hunted in the first place.” Balthazar said after slamming his hands on his boss’s desk. There was no way that he would hunt another paranormal creature of demon ever again. Not if they were innocent like Vinnie.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“I see.” Was his boss’s only responds before he leaned forward. “Then I’ll have to get you to do something else.”</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“What’s that?” asked the grey haired man.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“I’ll have to open up a new position, for humans and demons. You shall be involved in Human/Paranormal Relations since you are… rather involved with a demon.” His boss said with a shake of his head. Looking up at the couple once again, he calmly said “Now, you will start your new position next week. Take some time off until then alright?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Balthazar blinked his eyes before smiling. “Thank you sir. But, what about my parents? What will you tell the other hunters?”</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“We will just say that your parents were killed by a demon. Which isn’t really a lie, they were taken down by a demon. They will have a proper burial even though they had tried to kill you. Correct?”</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“Yes sir, but I don’t know if they knew what was going on as Zoey didn’t hear the entire conversation.”</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“Very well, but remember… do not bring this up again. Never talk about what you had gone through and if anyone asks, just say you were attacked by a Dark Fairy.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes sir.”</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“Now, leave my office.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>He took a deep breath as he thought about his job afterwards. The job had been rather easy at first, but after a while it had been getting harder and harder. Though that was because, as it had turned out there had been many couples of human and of the paranormal. It had seemed, that due to it being frowned upon at the time, humans and paranormal couples were seen as nothing but monsters that needed to be destroyed.</p><p> </p><p>So, no one ever came out until Balthazar started to be with Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>Taking a deep breath, the young man thought about all the trouble he had gotten himself in. If it wasn’t for Vinnie to help dig the grey haired man out of the hole he was digging himself in, then there was a good chance that he would have gotten himself hot in the foot so to speak. Because of that, there was no way of knowing what was to happen if he had stayed in that position longer than he had.</p><p> </p><p>So, he had offered to go to the field for the same department for P.I.G. He would go to the field with Vinnie to find any couples and have them registered to prevent any other issues with other hunters. It was to the point that should they be on the list of those that were actual couples and then separating them from those that actually wanted to hurt humans.</p><p> </p><p>That itself had taken some time to get by, though after a while he decided to travel the world with Vinnie. Though that hadn’t happened for a few years after his position as a Human/Paranormal Rep, he had gone for a nice and long needed vacation before his change to a field agent for looking on human/paranormal relations.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>It was a nice warm day in Hawaii. It was a simple vacation but something that Balthazar could deeply needed. Letting out a soft sigh, it was something that made him feel like he had some kind of normalcy in his life. Yes, he didn’t regret his time with Vinnie, but knew that even he needed some time just to feel normal. That was all he wanted but it would take a lot of time to completely adjust.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Hey Balthazar you okay?” asked Vinnie as he walked over to him.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Just tired of people thinking I’m an old man.” Balthazar said with a sigh.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Well, you do have the grey hair.”</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“I get it.” Balthazar said softly, had hoped that he’d be used to the grey hair by now. But no matter what happens, he’s still mistaken for someone who’s an old man, despite the fact that he’s not even thirty yet. Running a hand through his locks, he couldn’t help but feel down on himself.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Vinnie frowned as he reached out and grabbed a hold of the taller man’s hand, causing the young man to frown a little. The Incubus could only smile as he tugged the grey haired man down and kissed his cheek. Blushing like mad, Balthazar looked down at his demon in confusion. “You’re still handsome, with blonde or grey hair.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“You sure?” asked Balthazar, feeling like the air had left his lungs for a moment.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>The Incubus could only smile and nod before chuckling. “Come on, I got something to show you.” Vinnie then tugged at the man’s hand toward the beach. Balthazar of course, was a little confused about what was going on. It was late, the day had pretty much ended at this point so where would his demon even be taking him in the first place? It just didn’t make sense to him at all.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Once they had left the hotel they were staying at, Balthazar noticed that they were making their way to the beach. Interesting, why were they going here? “Vinnie? What are you planning?” Asked the grey haired man.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>“You’ll see!” Vinnie said with a big grin on his face.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>It made him a little curious as to what it was that his demon was even planning in the first place. There was no way of knowing what it was that he was planning. He just hoped that there was something that would have made this thing even worthwhile in the end.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>Taking a deep breath, the young man looked over at their soundings and saw that Vinnie had taken the two of them to the beach. Odd, why were they even here? Tilting his head he had thought that maybe Vinnie was just having them walk past the beach, not actually taking them there. Looking back down at his demon as he wondered what it was that the shorter man was planning right now.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“You’ll see, just wait and see and it’ll make it fantastic!” Vinnie declared before he saw that they had started to walk along the beach. Still holding the taller man’s hand as he smiled up at him. “How long have we known each other now Balthazar?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Hm, that was a good question now. “Maybe a few years now actually.” The taller man answered before looking down at Vinnie in confusion. It was strange that he would even ask such a thing by now. “What brings this up?” asked Balthazar with a tilt of his head.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Vinnie just hummed softly before looking over at the water. It made the taller man rather curious what was going on in his head in that moment. It just made him think that maybe the demon was trying to go through something that was happening without Balthazar knowing. After all, he never knew what would happen while the two were apart which, wasn’t often.</em>
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</p><p>
  <em>Since the fight with Shadow, Vinnie almost never let him out of his sight. Worried and afraid that the grey haired man would somehow disappear. Or even age quickly before the demon’s very eyes due to the man’s mortality. The young man couldn’t help but frown a little that was worried for his demon, thinking that something was wrong.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Vinnie took a deep breath as he whispered “Yeah that sounds about right.” He smiled a little as he added “Take a look at the sunset though. Beautiful right?” Balthazar frowned a little as he turned his gaze away and looked over at the beach itself. The sunset was setting over the water, it was a breath taking sight for sure. Though he hadn’t known that something like this could be so beautiful.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Though he failed to notice that Vinnie had released his hold on Balthazar’s hand.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“You are right, this view is beautiful.” Balthazar whispered softly.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Hey… Balthazar?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Yes Vinnie?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“Can you look this way for a moment?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Turning his gaze, he saw that Vinnie wasn’t standing anymore. In fact, he saw that the demon was even lower on the ground, on one knee. “Vinnie?” Questioned Balthazar, unsure as to what his demon was even doing, or if this was what he was thinking of. This couldn’t be what he was thinking of was it? There was just no way that this could be what he was thinking.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Vinnie had a sheepish smile on his face. “Look, I don’t have any fancy speech to go with this but… I know I love you.” He started, making Balthazar just look in confusion as well as shock. “I know, I’ve loved you for five life times at this point. I have loved each and every life that you had, and I still love you. It wasn’t just because of having some other chance at loving but because I knew I would love you each and every life you would have.” His demon looked down with a sad smile on his face. “I know that no matter what happens, I’d always love ya, ya know?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Balthazar was speechless right now.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“So, I’m hoping that maybe we can make a future together. I hope that you… love me back as much as I love you?” Vinnie seemed nervous or frightened in that moment. He wasn’t sure if Vinnie was scared of the rejection, or just scared all together over this.</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Then Vinnie pulled out a small black box as he whispered “Balthazar Cavendish, with each and every life we have shared I knew that you were the only one for me. So I’m hoping, that you feel the same or like I said before just as much.” Opening the box, his demon revealed a white gold band that was lined in green vines. “Will you marry me?”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Balthazar couldn’t help but cover his mouth in shock as he tried to process what it was that had just happened. Thinking back to all the times that Vinnie would disappear, saying that he had to go to a few stores to look for something special, only to think… what if it was for this? For him to find the perfect ring? He couldn’t help but feel tears building up in his eyes before saying “Yes… I will.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Vinnie cheered before jumping up onto his feet before wrapping his arms around the grey haired man and kissed him deeply before sliding the ring onto Balthazar’s ring finger with a bright and teary smile. “I love you.”</em>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>“And I love you my dear.” Balthazar whispered before kissing him gently.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar couldn’t help but look down at his hand as he stared at his ring. They got married about a year afterwards. It wasn’t a huge ceremony due to both sides not having a huge family or in Vinnie’s case, no family as he was an only child as were his parents. There was no one there but his adopted siblings and their child.</p><p> </p><p>Crystal had given birth to a little girl. One that looked so much like her mother but had her father’s hair and eye colouring. Though, there was a hint of red within their daughter’s eyes. While Crystal was a stern parent when it came to her daughter’s tantrums, having gained her mother’s temper, Blade as a father was… interesting.</p><p> </p><p>The man, even though their daughter at the time was only a few years old wouldn’t let any guy near her. Which only got worse as the little girl grew older. As their daughter, Carolynn had gotten older, she had learned of her powers which was a mix of both Blade’s and Crystal’s abilities and could easily protect herself. Though the Nekoline would do all he could do to ensure that their daughter was safe. Yet at the same time, her father wouldn’t even let her date as ‘no one’ was worthy of his daughters affections. That just made Balthazar worry for the couple’s daughter or any other child the two would have in the future.</p><p> </p><p>The two men would go see Blade and Crystal now and again, but since the band had in a sense ‘disbanded’ due to Crystal’s pregnancy and Brick (who never got over it and wanted to milk Vinnie for more cash at the time) had to pay out the band from their contract.</p><p> </p><p>Though after a while, when Vinnie was able to pass off as his own son at the time, and become a one man band just as his ‘father’ had hoped he would. Honestly though, Vinnie still got royalty checks from the music that he had done already, even now his music was fantastic and still very popular even after all of the time that had passed.</p><p> </p><p>Taking one deep breath, he made it to the top of the hill and couldn’t help but gaze down at their destination.</p><p> </p><p>His family home, once pristine and in fantastic condition had been worn down from many long years of neglect and had all but been abandoned. When it came to sorting out his family affairs with his sister after their parent’s deaths, it was time to decide on what should happen when it came to their family home. In the will, it was stated that the manor was to be given to someone with Cavendish blood, or at least carried the Cavendish name.</p><p> </p><p>While Zoey was making a name for herself in the world, and living her life as she wanted, Balthazar had mostly just kept paying for the property tax of the manor. Otherwise, no one has lived in the home in a long time. Not a single thing had happened other than the vines and grass getting long and taking over the land.</p><p> </p><p>So, the house was left alone for a very long time and had been listed under the ownership of another Balthazar Cavendish, as everyone knew the tradition of the Cavendish family.</p><p> </p><p>But this? This is the first time that he had returned to his home in over a hundred years.</p><p> </p><p><em>’Hundred years…’</em> Balthazar whispered as he reached up and grabbed a hold of his right shoulder. After the wedding, Vinnie had told the grey haired man that there is a way to share a life span. If he was willing to do it, because he wanted the choice to be the human’s choice and his alone. Of course, the young man had asked his demon what had to be done around then and the answer was pretty much a blood transfusion.</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar agreed, wanting to stay with Vinnie for as long as was possible. The young man had wanted to enjoy all of the time that they could share in the world. Vinnie of course, had asked him to make sure that it was what he really wanted. Because if he accepted, then he would have to outlive his family, and never be able to interact with his sisters descendants’ after a while as they wouldn’t know who he was and they would most likely not know that he was all but immortal due to him loving a demon.</p><p> </p><p>The man had hesitated, he won’t deny it. But, he knew that he loved Vinnie more than anything in the world. He promised he would so long as he could spend what time he could with his sister. His demon of course would never deny Balthazar anything of the sort.</p><p> </p><p>After the mark was created from the transfusion, a tattoo as Vinnie called it had formed on his shoulder from where the transfusion was done. It had created a musical note, and a pocket watch tattoo. It made Balthazar think of how music brought the two together, and how their love itself transcended time itself. It made him smile a little, though he couldn’t help but wonder what Vinnie thought about it.</p><p> </p><p>Breathing deeply, the young man reached up and ran his fingers along his handlebar moustache. After fifty years of being married, Balthazar had hoped to change his style up a little. Going as far as growing out his facial hair to have a moustache. Which Vinnie had said looked great on him.</p><p> </p><p>After that, he had looked for something new to wear and had found a three piece green suit with a pink tie and a top hat that had some goggles on it. It made him stare in shocked aw at the time so he settled for the suit and feel like it was made for him in that moment.</p><p> </p><p>Since then he never wore anything else in the world.</p><p> </p><p>“Yo… Balthazar… you stopped walking? Good.” Vinnie wheezed out as he made it to the top of the hill as he was hunched forward with his hands on his knees as he was trying to catch his breath. Now that the grey haired man thought about it, Vinnie was getting more exhausted lately. It was as if the simplest of exercises or workouts would exhaust him so much quicker to the point that he was worried over his husband.</p><p> </p><p>“You going to be alright love?” asked Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah… yeah I’ll be okay. Just need to catch my breath is all.” Vinnie said, lifting his head with a bright smile on his face before chuckling a little as he soon stood up straight as he asked “You gonna be okay though? I mean, this is pretty huge.” Balthazar frowned a little, had his demon been so worried about him all this time? Was that why he seemed so concerned?</p><p> </p><p>“I’m fine.” Balthazar whispered before he said “Let us take a look and see what needs to be done to fix this place up.” Vinnie of course whined a little, the young man just rolled his eyes before grabbing his husbands hand and starting to walk down the hill. Making sure to let his demon rest a little now and again as they walked down the steep hill. If he could, he would have carried the Incubus but felt like if they did it that way, that well they’d fall in the process.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie of course, just kept whining about being tired and exhausted. Over the years, his husband had his thick curls cut to a more simple hair style that was easier for him to care for. Then of course the tracksuit that he wore a few times before they got married, he had decided to wear it a good chunk of the time, nearly every day.</p><p> </p><p>It made Balthazar want to roll his eyes, but at the same time his husband would at least still dress up nicely during their date nights. He could at least be happy for that one. Though he couldn’t help but look over his shoulder as he stared at his demon as they walked. He was really looking tired, more so than ever before. “You sure you’re going to be okay love?” asked the young man.</p><p> </p><p>Nodding his head, Vinnie gave an exhausted smile before looking up at the manor. Once they got to the gate, Balthazar noticed that there was rust on the gate. Most likely from it not being opened in a hundred years.</p><p> </p><p>“Think we can open it?” asked Vinnie.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, it’ll need a good kick. Can you do it?” Vinnie looked nervous over it, as if he was worried about using any of his strength so that made him all the more curious and concerned for his husband. “Vinnie? You alright?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, don’t worry.” Vinnie gave a small smile before kicking the gate open. There was a loud creak from the gate swinging open before and the couple walked through the gate as they looked around. The walls were mixed with green from moss, and yellow from age. Then of course vines covering not just the gate, but the manor itself. It almost made Balthazar want to cry over seeing his home in such a state but he had been afraid of coming back to his home over what had happened.</p><p> </p><p>His gaze roaming around his home, knowing that it would take a while before the house would be habitable again. But the end result would be worth it. “Maybe we can ask Crystal, Blade and Carolynn if they can help us. It is rather large for us to clean on our own.”</p><p> </p><p>“I can ask, shouldn’t be a hassle since Blade is still going on how that guy Carolynn is seeing isn’t good enough for her.” Vinnie calmly said.</p><p> </p><p>“You’d think he’d get that, since she can’t be treated like a little girl anymore. She’s almost a hundred years old.” Balthazar said with a sigh before shaking his head. With that, the young man looked around his home once again, feeling a tad nostalgic, but also sad at the memories that would hit him. His heart was hammering in his chest over all that had happened.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie grabbed a hold of his husband’s hand. Balthazar frowned as he looked down at his demon in confusion. “You sure you’re going to be okay? I mean, we can always go back to traveling a little longer.”</p><p> </p><p>Shaking his head, Balthazar calmly said “No, I must overcome the darkness of our past and make a new path for a bright future.” He looked over at Vinnie and gave his demon a gentle and soft smile. “To ensure that we have a bright future for the future of our family. Well, when we have a family anyway.” He whispered softly before kissing his husband’s forehead.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie blushed a little before gently tightening his hold over Balthazar’s hand. “Actually… speaking of family.” He then moved the grey haired man’s hand over onto his belly. Balthazar’s eyes widened in shock before he looked up to the bi coloured eyes of his demon and back to his belly in confusion and shock. Unsure if what his husband was trying to say and it just made him baffled but, almost hopeful.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you… really?” Whispered Balthazar.</p><p> </p><p>Vinnie gave a sheepish smile before saying “Yeah, I’m a couple months in actually. It’s why I’ve been so exhausted lately.”</p><p> </p><p>“We’re having a baby?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yup.”</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar dropped down to his knees as he wrapped his arms around the Incubus and buried his face against his demon’s belly. Even giving it a kiss as he chuckled a little. “A baby… we’re having a baby…” Whispered the grey haired man.</p><p> </p><p>“Actually… its twins.” Vinnie responded with a nervous chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>“Twins?! Then… then we must prepare quicker! I’m going to call Crystal and Blade right away, we must get this house set up for the future of our children! We must make sure that this house is perfect for our children! You aren’t to do a thing! Not a single thing!” Balthazar said as he shot up to his feet and quickly grabbed his phone. Vinnie laughing in the background of his phone call.</p><p> </p><p>Life was dark for him at first, filled with nothing but sadness and pain. Now though, he can be happy and feel like his future is actually filled with light, instead of darkness. Because now, even though life has scared both himself and Vinnie, such as with his own scars, and his grey hair. Then Vinnie’s scarred hands and heart, Balthazar knew he has everything that he could ever want, even though he had lost many things along the way…</p><p> </p><p>Balthazar can safely say that he does indeed have the love of his life and children on the way. Everything is perfect and he was sure that it would stay that way and Vinnie, would never make life boring for him, nor would their children if they were anything like his Incubus.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>The End</strong>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Balthazar and Vinnie are finally happy at long last! Though I figured it should end on a happy note/revelation. I may do a bonus chapter to when Vinnie and Balthazar have their children depending. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this story, I plan to work on another story though I may do a couple oneshots first while I plan the next big story.</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I couldn't resist. This has been bothering me for a while now since I finally got a good part of the plot figured out. I won't lie updates on this one may not be as fast as the last story I did with Dakota and Cavendish. I'm also working on another fic to get it done since it's been on hold for a while now so I'll be working on this and the other since the other story's updates are rather slow. Anyway, what do you think of this fic so far? What do you think will happen? I'd love to hear the ideas. Oh, also I am bringing back some characters from my last fic but I'll be changing one of the character's designs. There may be another pairing but the main focus is Dakota and Cavendish. Later everyone and enjoy your day! oh and I'll explain the chapter title at some point, I won't say what but I'll say my friend helped me out with the title. oh and I thought it'd be cute for Cavendish to have a sister ^-^ she plays a part in the story.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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